


The Restless Souls

by FanaticAo397



Series: Five Nights at Freddy's: Ghosts Of Our Fathers [2]
Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: AU, Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Injury, Body Horror, Childhood Trauma, F/M, Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Horror, Hurt/Comfort, Killer Animatronics (Five Nights at Freddy's), Minor Character Death, Not Canon Compliant, Possessed Animatronics (Five Nights at Freddy's), Psychological Horror, Romance, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:54:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 104,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22839637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanaticAo397/pseuds/FanaticAo397
Summary: It's been over a year since Charlie returned to her childhood home and faced the man who destroyed her life and took away her family. Since then she has done everything possible to move on from Freddy's and the memories that haunt her. Going as far as to sell her old family home and move across the country with her now-boyfriend John.But the past always knows how to stay with someone. A forgotten figure from her father's past returns with a plan for Freddy's. One that will pit Charlie against both an old foe and someone she lost long ago.
Relationships: Charlotte "Charlie" Emily/John (Five Nights at Freddy's), Jeremy Fitzgerald/Original Character(s)
Series: Five Nights at Freddy's: Ghosts Of Our Fathers [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1585357
Comments: 116
Kudos: 92





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings readers. Thanks for checking out this story, a passion project that's been undergoing development since 2018, but it's finally here.  
> This story is set Post The Silver Eyes, and only that book is canon to this. Almost nothing From The Twisted Ones or The Fourth Closet will be present here aside from one or two ideas.  
> A big note is that the twist revealed in The Fourth Closet does not apply to this world. Throw out any expectations you may have from canon and sit back and I hope you enjoy the ride.

_“Always remember that something good will always follow right around the corner after a bad change, even if it takes a really long time to arrive."_ Charlie grimaced as the partial memory flashed through her head like a bolt of lightning and knocked her current train of thought off the tracks. Almost instinctively, she nearly asked aloud the very same question that had nearly gotten her in trouble with the friend of her aunts that had originally given that "nugget of wisdom" all those years ago. _'How can it be just around the corner but still take so long to get here?'_

The recollection of her aunt's response to Charlie's childish query came next; one of her subdued smiles before sipping at her ever-present mug as her friend frustratedly attempted to explain the meaning behind her statement. But like most things at that tender age of seven, the explanation failed to help Charlie understand it and thus she never even bothered to commit it to memory.

Not that it would have mattered much if she had, despite the elder lady's noble intentions, the statement had failed to leave any meaningful impact on her ever-growing sorrows. Back when she'd first moved in with aunt Jen, almost everyone she'd met seemed to have some recommendation for how she ought to live her life after losing her father.

But no matter how good their intentions were, each attempt to console her had always left Charlie feeling very self-conscious about her feelings. Her aunt's friends had spent so much time trying to make Charlie feel happy that her continued melancholy made her feel like an ungrateful little girl who was rudely shoving aside their continued kindness. Especially since in hindsight, there may have been some truth to some of the adult's sympathetic advice after all.

Throughout most of her life, Charlie had grown accustomed to sudden and huge changes which were then followed by periods of nothing happening. Usually, it took a few years before any sort of really meaningful changes actually occurred in her life. It was a routine that she'd grown to complacently accept, unready for any major shake-ups like the one that had happened to her so long ago. But recently she'd found the tides of her life unexpectedly shifting faster than they'd ever had before the events of her week back in Hurricane last summer.

But just before she became lost in a sea of self-reflection; a sudden flash in the corner of Charlie's eyes pulled abruptly her mind out of the past and back into the rainy present. The eighteen-year-old shuddered beneath the scarf she'd tightly wound around her mouth before and then pulled the collar of her borrowed coat around her face. The distant sound of rumbling thunder finishing the dispersal of her childhood memories from the forefront of her mind.

She stopped walking to look up towards the nearly pitch-black sky and started counting underneath her breath before a much closer rumble of thunder put a swift end to her tally. After taking a moment to recollect herself, Charlie continued her frigid down the sidewalk with a much quicker pace than she'd been moving at originally. 

_'What I wouldn't give to be able to crawl back into bed, I feel like a fish with all this water.’_ Charlie grumbled inwardly as she plodded along the dampened sidewalk; her mind switching gears to silently curse her earlier self for not getting out of bed and heeding John's warnings. But even though the rainstorm was getting worse by the second, she was too far away from their apartment to turn back now. Despite her increasingly desperate desire to find a dry place and warm herself up, she'd come too far just to turn around and admit defeat. 

Yet despite her wish to get of the rain, Charlie kept her pace slow enough to safely take down some of the more noticeable and unique local landmarks in her head as she walked along. Whilst knowing these things wasn't useful for her right now, she hoped that they'd be useful in helping her map out a way back home. The last thing she wanted was to get lost in a still unfamiliar city; especially since it was going to be her new home for the foreseeable future. Making sure that she knew her surroundings had been one of the first things that Jen had hammered into Charlie's brain whenever she went on a trip that was going to last longer than a single day.

As she set about following these orders, Charlie briefly flashed back to when she and John had first rolled through the now rain-soaked streets after their lengthy cross-country journey from Utah. Their tiredness giving way to a brief moment of excited relief at the journey's end. Although the memory of their first time seeing the town on a more pleasant day was at odds with the typhoon that now lashed at the town, the fleeting flashback to a happier moment managed to restore a little of her previously lost energy. 

The small return of vigor couldn't have come at a better time either; because right as she caught a faint sight of the colorful sign marking her journey's end, the wind sharply picked up and whipped the already heavy rain into a frenzied torrent that violently blasted anything unfortunate enough to be caught in its path with a spray of ice-cold liquid. Charlie squealed in shock and felt another deep shiver run through her as the freezing water crashed across her body.

 _'Like I didn't already look like I walked through a_ _waterfall,'_ With a weary sigh, she continued pushing herself onward in the hope that her efforts to get to reach her destination would not be in vain. The thought of having to return to the apartment with nothing to show for her journey wasn't one she wanted to entertain for very long, but it briefly tried to linger on just a little longer regardless of her attempts to force it away. 

"That's a defeatist attitude, Charlie _._ Don't let it take control of you." She mumbled to herself, summarizing and repeating a few actually useful bits of advice that both Jen and her therapist had given her regarding such negative thoughts.

Her aunt had unexpectedly manifested a very particular interest in keeping Charlie's mind free from additional stress after she'd returned from Hurricane. Though it was something that was easier said than done thanks to the rigors of high school life and early adulthood, Charlie appreciated her aunt's efforts even if she wasn't exactly sure where the sudden interest to keep her mind stable had come from. 

After another minute of walking through the relentless downpour, Charlie looked up and found herself standing at the base of the sign she'd previously glimpsed in the distance. Even though it didn't provide any real shelter from the howling wind, she felt a modicum feeling of relief standing beneath its shining gaze. The bright letters that spelled out the store's name standing out amongst the darkened sky like a lighthouse beacon out on a storm-tossed sea.

“Saver Saviors..." Charlie read aloud and turned towards the decently sized parking lot that lay just behind the sign. "Guess this is the place." 

Despite her constant bombardment from the storm, Charlie was able to make out a modestly sized supermarket-type building sitting at the other end of the parking lot. The same colorful lettering that was present on the sign above her hung over the building's entrance as well, albeit blown up to a much larger size. The sight of the store brought a welcoming sense of finality to Charlie's rain-soaked journey; as well as another burst of energy. The thought of being able to finally get out of the rain pushing her into a cautious jog across the waterlogged parking lot. 

But despite her haste to get inside, Charlie had to keep her pace slow in order to prevent any trip-ups from sending her spilling onto the cold pavement. Though the downside to her slowness quickly reared its ugly head as the pooling water soaked into her already damp socks and chilling her feet. It was a very unpleasant feeling, but she knew that going too fast would only result in something much worse than the cold she was currently on the way to getting. 

Right as her feet touched the sidewalk that lined the store's entranceway, an even closer rumble of thunder reverberated through the air around her. Charlie jumped nearly a foot into the air and shot forward through the mercifully automated doors into the store's embrace. Charlie came to a stop just inside the entrance and tilted her head upwards as a warm blast of air from inside the store met her frigid frame. She reached up to carefully tug down the scarf, fearful that the cold might have frozen it to her face but then allowed herself able to let out a quivering sigh of relief when she found herself able to pull it down to her neck with little resistance. 

As the warm atmosphere of the store began to settle over her, the clatter of the automatic doors filled her ears as raced to close out the still-raging storm outside. If it hadn't been for the final roll of thunder as the doors came to a final stop, Charlie could have easily convinced herself that she was now standing in a comparatively new world. The interior's bright lights and warmth provided a stark contrast to the darkened skies that Charlie had just left behind her. 

Once she'd managed to warm herself up enough to move again, Charlie took a couple of exhausted steps into the store itself and looked around at the almost warehouse-like room which would hopefully be her place of employment for at least the next few months or so. It was easy to tell that the store was laid out in a way that benefited the local college students that needed a cheap place to spend their limited budgets.

From her vantage point at the front of the store, Charlie could see that nearly all of the most essential utilities were placed towards the front of the store. Most of the foodstuff was located just to the left of the entrance, with an extensive row of industrial refrigerators just barely visible through the rows. To their immediate right sat what Charlie saw to be several aisles of both bodily essentials and healthcare products along with some school supply stock scattered here and there along the far right side of the building. Everything else that the store had to offer seemed to be further off towards the back and beyond Charlie's line of sight. 

After Charlie finished up taking in all she the front area of the store, her eyes fell upon a large countertop that ran the length of the wall near the start of the food aisles that featured a small gate at the end closest to Charlie. She could see three large wooden desk-like structures on the countertop that she assumed to be where they kept the cash registers out of sight from the customers.

But even though there were three register stations in total, Charlie could only see one employee standing watch over them. Said employee was a boy of about sixteen with curly dark-brown hair with a plain white shirt underneath a black vest that had a little silver name tag attached to its right side that identified him as being named "Arty." Aside from the name tag, the only bit of visible color on his person was a couple of colorful elastic bands loosely wrapped around his right wrist that he was absentmindedly fiddling with while his dark eye blankly stared off into the distance. 

Charlie glanced around the empty store and briefly rocked back and forth on her heels to give herself time to calm her suddenly troubled stomach. After half a minute of rocking, she paused and took a couple of controlled breaths through her nose, and then made her way over to the lone employee. But as Charlie moved closer to the worker, he didn't even seem to realize she was there. It was only when Charlie stood nearly face to face with him that Arty bothered turning his dark eyes in her direction. 

"Welcome to Savor Savers," He droned, "My name is Arty, how may I be of assistance to you today?" 

"Good Morning, my name's Charlie Baker and I was asked to come in for an interview today," Charlie asked with a polite smile. "Do you know if Mr. Fitzgerald is in right now?" 

To Charlie's dismay, Arty remained stubbornly silent in the face of her questions. Though despite what she initially thought, it wasn't because he'd tuned her out as she'd initially suspected. The teenager's face had suddenly gone red as gazed he suddenly looked up at her with a new life-filled expression. Before Charlie had a chance to fully take in this new look, Arty had abruptly turned his expression downward towards the countertop and started mumbling out a reply. 

"Oh...uh, I think you're gonna need to talk to Rebecca about that." He let out a strained laugh as if he'd just made a joke that even he knew wasn't all that funny. "Just give me a second to call her up from wherever she's gotten off too."

Arty leaned across the counter and flicked on a microphone attached to one of the other desks and flicked an unseen switch on the device that caused a crackling sound to reverberate throughout the store. Charlie couldn't keep herself from glancing upward in an effort to see just where the noise was coming from. But before she was able to pinpoint exactly where the loudspeakers were located, Arty's voice across the store like a ghost calling out from inside a dark tunnel. 

"Rebecca Fitzgerald to the store entrance, Rebecca Fitzgerlad please come to the store entrance. Thank You." Arty pulled away from the microphone so suddenly that Charlie at first thought that the device had somehow short-circuited and shocked his hand. But the expectantly cocky look on his face told a much different story than his actions, in fact, it kind of seemed like he was expecting Charlie to be impressed with what he'd just done. As if using the intercom to order around his boss was the most amazing thing he'd ever done in his life. 

But right as those thoughts began to take root in Charlie's mind, they were ripped out of the ground by the sound of footfalls making her way towards them from down one of the aisles. She turned around just in time to see a stony-faced woman who appeared to be in her late thirties moved out from behind several shelves near the coolers. She had a square face, apple cheeks, blue reading glasses, and long chocolate brown hair that was pulled up in a high ponytail. Attached to the black vest that she wore over a plain white shirt was another silver-colored name tag that proudly displayed the name "Rebecca," with the word "manager" written underneath in smaller text. 

As Rebecca moved closer towards Charlie, her rigid expression hastily morphed into one that was a lot more pleasant than the one she'd originally worn. But despite the change in demeanor, Charlie could still sense an authoritative aura surrounding the older woman that told her this was someone who was not to be trifled with. 

"Is something wrong up here Arty?" Rebecca stopped a few feet away from Charlie and addressed her subroutine with a questioning tone. 

"No, but this nice girl here," Arty gestured over towards Charlie, the cocky expression having faded from his face long before Rebecca had arrived. ", says that Mr. Fitzgerald called her in for an interview today." 

Arty's comment caused an involuntary flush rise to appear on Charlie's cheeks as Rebecca turned her gaze away from Arty and looked over her still soggy frame. While the person who she'd spoken to over the phone had claimed to be the store owner, the authoritative presence in the woman's voice had her wondering if this Rebecca was actually the one in charge. 

"You're Charlie Baker?" Rebecca didn't even wait for Charlie to give her an answer before looking over towards double doors that Charlie had just entered through only moments ago. "We thought that you were going to ask for a reschedule with how bad the weather's getting." 

"Yeah, I was supposed to have an interview today with the owner at eleven-thirty." Charlie mentally prayed that her voice didn't sound as taut as she thought it sounded in her head. But it was hard not to sound that way due to her tiring trip through what seemed to be an actual hurricane as well as Rebecca's stern gaze. ", and thought about calling you guys, but I decided that I should do my best to come in at the agreed-upon time regardless of the weather." 

Charlie paused and straightened up her posture. Her mind turning back to some advice Jen had given her back when she'd tried to get a job right after turning 16. While they had passed over Charlie for someone else, she was hopeful that her aunt's advice would prove more useful this time around. The butterflies in her stomach were swarming in full force as she watched Rebecca's face become natural, then stern as her mouth formed into a very thin line across her face. The older woman warily breathed before she spoke once again in a brittle voice, as though she'd already heard what Charlie had just said a thousand times before. 

"Can I give you some advice kid?" Rebecca asked. Charlie blinked in surprise and hesitantly nodded as she felt a lump form in her throat. 

"I'm going to need you to forget whatever your teachers told you about risking your neck out there with the roads as bad as they are. Not that we don't appreciate the enthusiasm, but you don't need to push yourself to get here on the dot if there's stuff going on that's beyond your control. As long as you call us in advance, then we won't have a problem with you coming in late. Understand?" 

"Yeah...yeah...of- I understand." Charlie stammered. Her words catching as she felt a rush of shame rise up within her mind along with a rather stupid idea to mention that she walked to the store instead of driving. Luckily for her, she managed to hold herself back from blurting out that little fact. Though her potential manager's words did cause her to briefly worry about John's trip back home. 

"Good, we don't need any suck-ups running around here." Rebecca reached out and patted the younger girl's shoulder. "Since you came all this way though, we should get you that interview Jeremy promised ya." 

"Are you sure?" Charlie asked hastily. "I don't want to be rude and I completely understand if he's changed his plans and isn't able to see me right now." 

"Oh, It'll be fine don't worry, It's not like any of us are doing much around here besides gathering dust. Besides, it'd be cruel to have you go through all that rain and not get your interview; and maybe even nice little a job too boot."Charlie felt the pressure lift off both her chest and throat as Rebecca finished her stance looked back over towards the direction she'd just walked with her face scrunched up in thought. "

Though, I've still got a few things to do over in the frozen section so..." She trailed off in deep thought before she turned around towards the cash registers. "Hey Arty, can you take Charlie back to Jeremy's office for me real quick?"

The young man had been trying subtly to listen to the conversation between both women and momentarily lost track of what was going on; so when Rebecca asked her question, the suddenness of it made Arty nearly jump out of his chair. He looked back and forth between the both of them for a couple of seconds as his mind tried to process what had just been asked of him. Once that was done, Arty quickly collected himself and rose up from his chair. 

"Oh of course! I'd be more than happy to help our potentially new co-worker!" He said with an almost excessive amount of cheerfulness in his voice. 

"Make sure you're quick about it too," Rebecca advised before she beginning to walk back towards the frozen section, ", I don't want to leave the checkout unattended for too long okay?" 

"You got it, ma'am," Arty replied after a pause, although he'd been thinking about saying something rather snarky in response to Rebecca's order but then thought better about what he was going to say.

Once he'd finished moving around the countertop, Arty moved over towards Charlie's side as quickly as he could manage without breaking into a run. The quickness of his actions causing a few bits of nervousness to crop back up in Charlie's mind, though these worrisome were promptly ignored by the young woman. Although his shift in conduct was a little jarring to her, Charlie assumed that his behavior had more to do with him finally getting to do something besides sitting behind a desk all day rather than anything to do with her. 

When he finally got to Charlie's side, Arty looked as though he'd just been handed a pot of gold. Though he attempted to keep his excitement tampered with a couple of deep breaths before he gestured towards the back of the store. 

"Shall we get going then?" He delicately asked, sounding almost as nervous as Charlie had felt when she's first walked into the store. 

"Uh...sure, lead the way," Charlie answered with a half-formed smile. +

Arty stepped away from Charlie and then broadly gestured for her to walk with him down the rightmost aisle of the store like he was some sort of stage magician setting up an act. Though his little performance did little to impress Charlie, who just raised a curious eyebrow before setting off down the aisle with her temporary companion. But as they walked along, Arty seemed to become more and more fidgety with each passing step until he finally had enough courage to ask Charlie a couple of questions. 

“So, mind if I ask what might be a stupid question on my part?" He asked in a low, slow tone of voice. "I don't wanna sound rude but, Charlie's not really a name I think of for a girl..." 

Charlie's neutral face abruptly switched to an annoyed frown at the mention of her name. She'd had questions like this asked of her so many times that she could have had John fill a whole book with all the variations of this question. But before she could give her usual response about her name to his question, Arty quickly backed his train of thought back into the station and began attempting to change the topic. 

“Not that it's a bad name by any means! In fact, it makes you sound like a very responsible and professional person. Especially since you went through all that rain just to get here on time. ”

"Thanks, I guess," Charlie murmured. Her annoyed expression refusing to vacate her face despite the de-escalation static Arty had deployed. 

"Were the roads pretty bad for you coming in? Because I'm getting supposed to be get picked up by a buddy after work and I wanna know how long I'd be waiting for." Arty asked again, hopeful that a change in the topic would smooth over whatever feathers he may have ruffled. 

"I can't really answer that, I had to walk here because my boyfriend has the car today." It was only when she'd finished speaking that Charlie realized how angry she sounded, which she was to an extent. However, her anger was directed more at herself rather than John. 

As they were settling into their apartment, they did so under the assumption that Charlie would eventually join John at the local university. Which meant that the use of Charlie's old, blue Honda would be equally shared between the two of them. But when Charlie tried to pick out classes, she found any and all motivation to pursue a secondary education seemed to have left her. Her therapist had done his best to reassure her over the phone that this was common and that she probably she just needed some time to reflect on what she wanted to do with her adult life and after spending a few days in the apartment in deep thought, Charlie decided to try and join the workforce for a spell, and see if that might restore some of her lost motivation. 

Because of this change in plans, John had taken to driving the old car too, and from classes each and every day to the point where Charlie had jokingly suggested she should just sign all the insurance papers in his name instead of hers. It was a situation that they'd both agreed would probably need to be changed once Charlie finally landed herself a full-time job, but even then she was perfectly comfortable walking to wherever she needed to go.

But right as he'd been leaving for his morning classes earlier today, John had managed to hear a rather nasty sounding weather bulletin that warned all those who might be listening about a massive downpour that was heading towards the Brookhaven area around the same time as Charlie's interview. But when John had gone back into the bedroom to suggest that Charlie ride with him to campus and then take the car back home, his warnings were rebuffed by Charlie's tired yet firm assertion that the weather wasn't going to be as bad as he thought. It was a decision that she'd quickly come to regret once she'd actually gotten outside and started making her way towards Saver Saviors. 

But while Charlie had been ultimately fine with the situation, Arty seemed to have a different thought regarding the whole thing. He was about to comment on what Charlie had said but quickly bit his tongue in order to keep from offending Charlie more than he already had.

It wasn't like he had much time to do so anyway as he led her past the bathrooms at the back of the store and down a small hallway with a large pair of double doors at the very end of it. But right before they passed through the larger doors, Arty came to an abrupt stop and turned towards an old wooden door that nearly blended in with its surroundings. 

"Here we are," Arty said. "The place where the big man himself does all the really boring stuff." 

Charlie glanced at the immediate area around the pair with a befuddled look on her face as Arty reached out and rapped two of his fingers against the door. Before the sound of the knock had even finished dying down, Arty tried knocking the more traditional way. But just like before, the knocking went answered. Arty turned back towards Charlie with a meek expression and let out a slow chuckle

“Guess Mr. Fitzgerald's not in right now.” As soon as the words finished leaving his mouth, the door behind him swung open with a sharp squeak that almost made Charlie want to cover her ears. 

“Or you could actually take the effort to open up the door, I keep it unlocked for a reason ya know.” The man who stepped from the door and responded to Arty's comment was a lean and very tired-looking fellow. The scruffiness of his face and the tired look in his eyes made him appear to be much older than he actually was, though if Charlie's guestimate was right, he couldn't have been that much older than Rebecca. 

Like both Arty and Rebecca, the man wore an almost identical-looking vest with a crooked nametag that read "Jeremy Fitzgerald," attached to the vest. Underneath that, he wore a neatly pressed dress shirt with a pair of well-worn slacks. In his hands was a cup of coffee and a clipboard through the coffee didn't seem to be doing much before he'd even stepped into the hallway, he was forced to use the clipboard to stifle a yawn. Once he'd finished taking in some air, he glanced down at an old watch on his wrist before glancing back at the clipboard and then looking directly at Charlie. 

"Are you...Charlotte Emily Baker?” He drowsily asked.

"Uh, yes," Charlie said quickly, ignoring the look that she felt Arty was giving her. ", although I prefer to go by Charlie if that's alright with you sir." 

Mr. Fitzgearld paused and then tiredly looked down at his clipboard. For a moment, Charlie was worried that she'd said something out of line. But instead of reacting negatively towards her request, the man just simply nodded before taking a took a long sip from his coffee before giving her a tired smile. 

"very well Charlie, you're right on time. How about you come on in and we'll start your interview.” He said and stepped aside to let her pass. As Charlie walked past him, Mr. Fitzgealrd looked back towards his wayward employee and cleared his throat. 

“As for you Arty, you can go head upfront," Jeremy ordered. 

"You got it, Mr. Fitzgerald! ," Arty replied, the false cheerfulness returning to his voice as he leaned past his boss to get a final word to Charlie. "Good luck in there Charolette!" 

Charlie froze and felt a flood of anger pass through her mind at the usage of her real name. But before she was able to comment on it, Jeremy unhesitantly closed the door in Arty's face and moved around Charlie to sit behind his desk. Anything that she had to say to Arty would have to wait until after her interview; if she managed to pass it that is. 

Much like the store itself, the back office wasn’t anything to write home about. It was a simple room with two withered chairs stationed across from each other with a large, well-worn desk separating both sides. Sat upon the desk was a fairly modern computer along with several disorganized piles of paper that Jeremy stopped to shift and push away before he settled down into his chair and then he gestured for Charlie to sit down in the one opposite his. Besides that desk and chair, the only over bit of furniture in the room was a large metal filing cabinet to the right of the desk on which sat an old silver coffee maker.

Once they were both seated Jeremy put down his clipboard and pulled out the copy of Charlie's resume that had been sent to him the week prior.

“Alright, Charlie I've got several questions I'd like to ask. The first of which is what brings someone like you all the way out here from Utah to work at our little store? If you don't mind me asking that is." 

"Not at all," answered Charlie. "I just moved into the area with my boyfriend and I decided to get a get a job during his classes." 

“I see...are you taking any classes of your own then?" Jeremy asked again as the sound of his pencil moving across the clipboard filled the otherwise silent room. 

“No." Charlie sighed. "I thought about it for a while but...I didn't feel like there were any subjects that interested me at this time." 

Charlie watched the older man write something else down on the clipboard with his lips pursed in concentration. Much like the topic of her name, her decision to not pursue a secondary education had become a rather sensitive topic in the young girl's life. While John, Jessica, Jen, and her therapist had all been mostly supportive of her choice, there'd also been a few people who'd been all too quick to condemn her decision without even hearing her side of the story. 

But to her relief, Jeremy didn't seem to be at all critical of her choices. Once he'd finished taking down his newest set of notes, the older man turned back towards her with an understanding smile etched onto his face. 

“There's nothing wrong with taking a little time to figure things out," He said and leaned back in his chair. ", in fact, I did the same thing you did and waited a couple of years before I bit the bullet and went to college." 

"Thank you." Charlie grit her teeth and mentally cursed herself out for saying that aloud. But Jeremy didn't seem to take notice of what she'd said and instead began to throw her some of the more typical questions that she'd been told to expect from an interview. Charlie wasn't sure how long they'd been talking, but after what felt like an hour's worth of answering the older man's questions, Jeremy put down the clipboard and pulled out a sheet from one of the many stacks of papers lying around his desk. 

"One last thing Charlie, you said that you wanted to work while your boyfriend was doing his classes right?" When Charlie answered with a confirmative nod, Jeremy reached across the desk and offered her the sheet of paper. 

"This is all of our available shifts that are open right now. So if you're interested in a particular one, that'll help me figure out where to place you." Upon seeing Charlie's surprised expression, Jeremy let out a shallow little laugh and flashed what might have been his first genuine smile since the interview had begun. 

"W-wait." Charlie stammered nervously. "Does this mean that I passed?" 

"More or less." The older man shrugged. "Your answers were honest and all of your questions were perfectly reasonable ones. I've got no reason to assume that you won't work hard at whatever task I assign you to do so yeah. Once you've picked out a shift, you can consider yourself part of the team." 

Charlie wanted to thank her new employer but found herself unable to properly articulate all the thoughts now swirling around in her head. But there was one feeling that rose above all of the others, a growing sense of pride that quickly filled her with a sense of accomplishment that erased all of the leftover worries she'd still been carrying since the start of the interview. 

The rest of her time in Jeremy's office was spent picking out the times and days that she wanted to work and figuring out which vest size would fit her the best. Afterwhich, Jeremy typed out a timesheet for Charlie and printed it out for her to memorize. 

“It'll take a few days for me to get the vest and nametag, but they should be here by Monday if you're willing to come in then." Jeremy finished as he handed over Charlie's timesheet. "I'll also have Rebecca show you how and where to clock in on your first day." 

“Monday works for me,” Charlie replied softly.

"in that Ms. Baker, I'd like to formally welcome you to our team and wish you s safe journey back to your home." Jeremy stood up and reached across his desk with his right hand extended outward. Charlie quietly rose to meet him and firmly grasped hold of his hand and gave it a firm shake. 

“Thank you for the opportunity to work here sir." 

"Just call me Jeremy. Everybody else does." The older man said with another small laugh. "See on Monday then Charlie." 

"See you..." Charlie softly trailed off as she turned to make her way out of the office. Once she was out of Jeremy's office with the door closed behind her, she let the excited grin that she'd spent so long holding back finally burst free like water rushing through a broken dam. The young woman was almost unable to keep her excitement limited to just her face as she strode out into the store itself with a bit more energy in her step than what she'd originally had when she first came in, a sense of pride that seemed undiminishable. 

Even if working at the store wasn'tt exactly going to take her many places in life, Charlie knew that it was only just the first step of whartever came next and for the first time since she'd moved to Brookhaven, she was excited for what the future might hold. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you made it this far, thank you! This has been a passion project I've been working on for three years now and I hope you all enjoy it. What am I doing with my life? 
> 
> Something that I didn't do originally and I will be doing now is providing links to the references/redesigns that my amazing friend Necromulus did for Charlie and John for this story.  
> https://www.deviantart.com/necromulus/art/Charlie-design-744821053  
> https://www.deviantart.com/necromulus/art/John-re-design-749464867
> 
> I hope you all enjoy them as much as I did! I hope that you all stick around for more of the story, it's going to be quite the ride.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A slow and short chapter, but still relevant. Expect some fluff and also if you all saw the little cameo from another FNAF Novel, let me know in the comments if you realized/saw it and if you like what I've done with her.

It surprised Charlie how fast Monday had arrived, and even more so the fact she wasn’t as nervous as she’d expected herself to be. What little butterflies in her stomach she’d had were chased away while preparing for her first day. Her hair tied up in a messy bun, new tennis shoes, and a light jacket as she joined John in the car.

He’d insisted that she’d be able to ride with him and he could still get to class on time. Something that Charlie was holding him too.

The rainstorm had long since passed but the cold it had brought along stuck around. Bringing an almost winter chill to Brookhaven, which ultimately was why Charlie had relented to John’s offer to drive her. Better to ride in a warm car then show up to work with her teeth chattering.

She sunk down into her seat, enjoying the heater while she could as John drove silently. Both of them mentally taking note of the route as they went. However the silence began to get a bit shifting to Charlie, and she looked up at John.

“So, penny for your thoughts?”

“My thoughts need coffee, not money when it's this early.” John covered his mouth as he yawned.

“But If I give you enough pennies we can buy coffee.” Charlie lightly giggled before yawning as well and then she pouted.

“Oh no, you’ve infected me and now I’m yawning too.” She reached out and lightly shoved John’s shoulder.

“Look at what you’ve done, now everyone will think I didn't sleep well.” 

“Given what you’ve told me about the owner I doubt they’ll notice.” John smiled as Charlie huffed.

“Just because he needs coffee doesn't mean I want to look like I do too.” 

“Well, I think you look as great as you always do, regardless of how much sleep you’ve had.” John finished the sentence with a smile while they both blushed. Charlie placed a hand to her face and laughed before looking back at John.

“Thanks.” She said while John gave her a reassuring smile.

“It’s never a problem,” he glanced upwards towards the large sign indicating the entrance to the Saver Saviors parking lot. “And here we are.” John turned into the parking lot and drew close to the very front of the store, so Charlie wouldn't have to walk too far in the cold. 

“Thank you, you’ll be here at five right?” Charlie smiled at him while unbuckling her seatbelt.

“I might be a little late if there’s traffic or if the lectures run long, I hope that’s okay.” 

“Of course, just don’t leave me out in the cold for too long.” She double-checked herself before opening her door but was stopped by John gently touching her shoulder.

“Hey before you go, can I give you something for luck on your first day?” He asked with a warm smile. Though she was confused, Charlie nodded but then found John’s lips meeting hers. While she’d been startled at first Charlie leaned into and enjoyed it before they both pulled away. Charlie felt herself blushing and placed a hand to her cheek before asking.

“Can I have another one, I think I’ll need it.”

John happily granted her wish, and their lips met for just a little while longer before Charlie exited the car and waved to John one last time.

“Love you.” she softly called to him, and John echoed it back before pulling the car away from the storefront and out of the parking lot. Charlie silently watched the blue honda vanish into the distance as she drew in a few deep breaths, trying to make herself relaxed. Despite her attempts though her face remained a very bright red.

‘ _Well, at least you don’t look tired anymore.’_ She took a final deep breath and walked into the store, deciding to simply tell anyone who asked that she was blushing from the cold. Passing through the doors, she was greeted by Rebecca calling out her name.

“Hey Charlie, good to see that you made it on time.” She called Charlie over to the cash register and handed her a little punch card.

“Jeremy’s tied up so I’ll teach you how to clock in.” Rebecca stepped out from behind the counter and led Charlie to a side room which served as the employee break room. Much like the store itself and Jeremy’s office, it was a rather basic place. With a couple of rows of tables with folding chairs, some vending machines, and another coffee maker.

Only two other employees were seated at the tables as Rebecca taught Charlie how to clock in. One was a goth looking girl who also had the same vests as everyone else and was around the same age as Arty. The nametag on her vest read ‘Millie’ and she looked miserable as she ate her breakfast and tried to ignore whatever Arty was saying.

He also had a small breakfast before him, though he seemed more intent on talking off Millie’s ears before he spotted Charlie clocking in. His eyes became wide with excitement when he realized that she’d been hired.

Feeling uncomfortable because of his stare, Charlie attempted to ignore him as she turned her attention back to Rebecca.

“Now Jeremy should be around soon with your vest and name tag so just hang tight till he gets here.” All that Charlie could think to do was nod and watch Rebecca turn away and head out of the breakroom. She was hoping that Rebecca was right and Mr. Fitzgerald wouldn't take too long.

But it was Arty who approached her first clearing his throat and sticking a hand out towards her with a wide smile.

“Congratulations on getting hired!” Charlie winced as Arty nearly shouted at her. The excitement would have been contagious if he hadn’t made himself off-putting to her. He kept his hand raised upwards, expecting her to give it a shake.

But Charlie’s hands stayed at her sides, the only response she gave him was a slightly forced “thanks.” When he realized she wasn't going to shake back Arty put his hand down and laughed.

“Hopefully we’ll get to do a lot of work together.”

‘ _I hope that we don’t’_ Charlie thought about saying that out loud but instead, she kept it rather quiet. Nothing good would come from starting drama on her first day.

Luckily for her, she was spared anymore awkwardness as Jeremy walked into the breakroom. In his hand was his cup of coffee, and under his arm was a black vest like the ones everyone else wore. He held it out to Charlie who took it.

“Sorry for getting here late, had a truck drop off more stock than needed.”

“I understand sir and it’s okay.” Charlie unfolded then slipped on the vest and noticed that her name tag read ‘ _Charlie.’_ It was a little detail that made her slightly happier. But her mood was dragged down as Arty spoke up once again.

“Mr. Fitzgerald, can I be the one to teach Charlotte how things work around here?” Charlie scowled at the use of her full name and was about to tell Arty off for using it when Jeremy cut in for her.

“ _Charlie_ is going to be trained today by Brian and Kevin, and you’ve only been employed for two months so you don’t know quite enough yet to be a trainer yourself.” Arty’s face scrunched at Jeremy’s remark but he held his tongue.

Once Charlie finished buttoning up her vest and checking to make sure it was on properly, Jeremy gave her a thumbs up and motioned towards the door before walking out with Charlie following. She took one last look over her shoulder at Arty. He was turned away but it was clear he was still unhappy with Jeeremry’s decision she listened to him.

So while Jeremy talked and led her to the back to meet Kevin and Brain, she decided to keep Arty’s behavior in the back of her mind. For now, it wasn’t too concerning, but left unchecked it might go out of control.

Which was something she was very keen on avoiding. 


	3. Chapter 3

“Carlton, you know I appreciate the help, but I’m not too old to wash dishes myself.

Carlton Burke straightened from the sink as his aunt Cynthia leaned up against the countertop beside it. Her smile was one of concern and trepidation towards her nephew's behavior. Carlton looked from her and then back towards the dirty plates he was holding from their supper with a shrug.

“I might as well learn how to do something useful, plus I should pull my weight now that I live here.” Cynthia reached out and gently pulled the plates from Carlton’s fingers, then leaned over and kissed the top of his head.

“I never made you do chores when you visited before and that hasn’t changed even now.” Carlton made no effort to prevent a smile as she ruffled his hair.

“Besides I have a dishwasher for a reason.” She took the plates and began to set them inside said dishwasher as Carlton watched on, though with a small amount of guilt.

After his graduation from high school, his mother had suggested the idea of staying with her sister for a while to “get away from it all.” What she’d actually meant was to get Carlton away from the nearly constant toxicity he was facing back in Hurricane.

Officer Dunn had been closer to a lot more people than anyone had really known. His death had sent about creating almost as many shockwaves as the original Fazbear murders back in 85. Carlton’s father, Clay, had tried to keep the knowledge of his and his friend's involvement out, but it had managed to get out anyway.

It was an almost instantaneous effect, as overnight everyone, including a few of the teachers, started treating Carlton with hostility. No one knew exactly what happened, and few truly believed the cover story Clay had come up with. Everyone seemed to share the idea that Carlton had pulled a prank that had gone too far and killed an innocent man. The only ones who hadn’t believed it at some point or another were those that were with him that night and his family.

But his friends could only do so much when they were scattered about, and Charlie could barely show her face around Hurricane due to it happening in her dad's restaurant. She at least lived elsewhere so she never had to stay in Hurricane for very long. 

“Hey Carlton,” Cynthia paused after putting away the last dish, “A friend of mine recommended a good therapist to speak too.” Carlton froze and looked down at his feet nervously. Therapy was something almost everyone from Freddy’s had gotten except for him.

After everyone in Hurricane had started to despise him for the perceived involvement in Dunns's death he felt he couldn't trust anyone in the town. Let alone some stranger he was meant to repeat a lie to again and again for everyone else's sake. The truth was crazy, and would no doubt land them all in deeper trouble then what they already were in.

How Charlie had done it was beyond him. But he put on a reassuring look and gave the same reply he'd given to everyone else who brought up therapy.

“I’ll think about it Aunt Cyn, but I think I’m going to turn in the night.” Cynthia glanced towards the clock and noted it was only a little after seven, but gave her nephew a hug anyway.

“Alright, but if you have any trouble sleeping, you know where to find me okay?” Carlton returned the embrace and assured his aunt he’d be okay before departing for his room.

While it sounded like an excuse, he really was tired at that moment. It was becoming a regular thing for him lately, thankfully his room wasn’t very far despite the size of his mother’s childhood home. Much like his family’s home in Hurricane it was rather well furnished but all of the furniture was old and was more of a display of wealth than a true comfort.

But unlike the rest of the house, Carlton's current room in the house was rather sparsely decorated by comparison because of his unwillingness to bring over much from Hurricane. Why would anyone want to remember a town that had started to shun them anyway? Most of what he’d brought was clothing and a few sentimental items from his past.

With barely a glance at his pajamas, Carlton laid down onto the bed and stretched out. Sleeping in the clothes he’d been wearing was always something he’d done whenever he felt too tired, or lazy to change out. But like his tiredness, it was becoming a more frequent habit

As he folded his arms behind his head, Carlton felt his eyelids begin to droop. Deciding not to fight it any longer, he let himself drift away and finally closed his eyes to sleep. But his eyelids hadn’t been closed for a minute before he heard his name being softly called and they snapped open again. He raised his head upward and took a curious glance around the room.

“Aunt Cynthia?” He called out. At first, the only sound in the room was his own breathing, until he heard the call once more. This time it was closer, but it didn’t sound anything like his aunt’s voice. But as his eyes traveled around the room they fell on something that hadn’t been there before.

Sitting in a corner across from his bed was a large yellow bear. Old and very withered, with bits of fur both matted and missing. It sat slumped backward as though there was no life within it, and yet there were two white pinpricks of light that stared out from within the otherwise empty sockets. Its jaw also hung very loosely as though it would fall off at any moment.

Despite the bear’s sudden and startling appearance, Carlton was remarkably calm. He slid off his bed and went into a cross-legged sitting position on the floor, mere inches from the bear’s own legs. There wasn’t even a hint of fear as he smiled and addressed the bear.

“Hey Michael, been a bit since I last saw you,” Carlton said and followed it up with a little laughter. After the incident, he'd begun seen the bear regularly, almost as though it had attached itself to him. Though he never let anyone, especially his parents onto that little fact.

“Sorry for just up and leaving Hurricane, probably why I didn’t see you for a while, but I’m glad to see you made it here.” Carlton looked in the direction of the living area and gestured towards it.

“Oh yeah, I’m living with Aunt Cynthia for a bit, the one who always got you extra art supplies whenever you came over?” The sound of childish giggling filled the room as Carlton grinned from ear to ear.

“So, anything new with you and the others?” The air around them both grew colder as the question was answered by the yellow bear. All the while, as he whispered and gave an answer Carlton’s face began to become very grim with every sentence. But he was unable to reply, before the sound his aunt’s voice reached his ears. Jolting him out of his and Micheal’s conversation.

“Carlton?” He turned his head at the sound of his aunt’s voice and went for the door. He looked back to Micheal and whispered,

“I’ll be right back.” Before opening his door to find his aunt just outside the room  
“Yeah?”

“Jessica just called and wanted to see how you’ve been, I can tell her to call back later if you’d like.” Carlton glanced back into the room but saw not even a hint of Micheal’s presence. Like he’d never been there at all.

“I’m fine auntie, I think I can talk to her.” He smiled and walked to the kitchen with his aunt. Leaving his room as empty and silent as it had been before.  
\--------------------  
Charlie blew away the strands of hair that fell over her face with an audible puff as she shoved her time card into the machine. While it worked to clock her out, she took the opportunity to completely move away from the other hairs from her face.

Time had flown past, and she was already working her third week at Saver Saviors. While grateful to have the work it would get a bit tiring after a full eight hours. That’s why she was also grateful to be off the next couple of days.

Undoing the buttons on her vest, she made her way towards the front of the store. Although John wasn't going to arrive for a few more minutes, she wanted to be punctual in case he was early. At least, she was hoping he might be early.

She waved to Rebecca and Millie who were attending the cash registers but didn’t notice that Arty was three aisles away stocking up a few of the shelves When she saw her, Rebecca jokingly called out to Charlie. 

“Don’t enjoy yourself so much that you can’t show up Tuesday.” Rebecca's comment made Charlie laugh while she folded up her vest.

“Nah, I’m not really much of a party girl, I’m just going to spend the weekend with my boyfriend.” A minor ruckus suddenly drew their attention as Arty fumbled with the box he was carrying. His eyes darkened and he looked away from the others, muttering about losing his grip on the box. Charlie tensed up when she realized he was close, but it subsided as he went back to work and ignored her for once.

“Well I hope you both have a good weekend then,” Rebecca returned her attention to Charlie. “Be sure to get plenty of rest.”

“Oh, I will because John will get on me if I don’t.” Charlie laughed and walked out of the front doors, saying her goodbyes to Millie and Rebecca who also returned to their work. Arty kept stocking shelves, though now it was in an aggravated state which caught Rebecca’s attention.

“Something rubbing you the wrong way, kid?” Arty looked out of the giant front window and saw Charlie’s blue honda pull up to the curb. Charlie enthusiastically went around the car and hopped into the passenger seat. Though he couldn't see inside, he knew that “John” had to be the driver. He silently watched it drive away and only when it was out of sight did he address Rebecca

“Yeah, I’m just peachy.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some fluff that'll set up Charlie and John's relationship and hopefully give you all some warm and fuzzies

When it came to the high end of luxury, the 'creatively named' Brookhaven Complex wasn't anything to write home about. But that didn't mean it was a rundown tumbling shack either. At just the right price and location it was ideal for the many students coming and going to the nearby university.

Many of the apartments were rather well maintained, thus requiring little in the way of maintenance from their tenents. Something that Charlie and John considered a blessing whenever they returned to their little three-room apartment. It was situated towards the back of the complex and with their only nearest neighbor being another tired university student it was a rather quiet area that they both enjoyed the relative privacy of. 

They'd barely been back inside for a minute before Charlie made for the bathroom. The only word she said before closing the door being a hurried call of “dibs!” John hadn't even considered arguing though, even as he heard the shower turn on because Charlie had been the one working all day, while he'd been stuck in various classrooms. Plus he preferred morning showers over evening ones, so it wasn't a big deal to him as it gave him time to try and finish his homework and free up the weekend. 

Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. While he'd initially been blazing through the assignments there'd been one that stopped his progress cold. He growled under his breath as he scribbled down his latest attempt at a haiku 

_'Fall is coming_   
_The leaves dying and falling._   
_To the ground below’_

John counted the syllables in his head before tiredly crossing out the haiku with a groan. He looked across the paper and realized that the last Haiku had taken the last free space on the paper. The entirety of the paper was coated in his other failed haiku’s and peppered alongside them were little notes he'd made which what exactly had gone wrong. 

But for the most part, it was always the syllable count being just a bit off. 

_`I don’t get why my teacher thinks this will make me a better writer.’_ John crumpled up the paper with a disgruntled sigh and then tossed it over his shoulder, but he turned around upon hearing a startled yelp. But right as he finished his turn the paper was returned to him in the same way he'd disposed of it. He blinked as it lightly hit his forehead before falling to the floor by his foot. 

“Sorry, that was supposed to just hit the table!” As John completed turning around he saw Charlie standing behind him with damp hair and wearing her “favorite pajamas.” Though they were actually just a shirt that used to belong to him with some pajama pants. She’d grabbed the shirt from the laundry one day and she'd been using it ever since. But If John was being honest, he didn't really care because he’d barely worn it anyway.

Charlie knelt down and scooped up the paper, then tossed it into the nearby trash can with a bit of nervousness of laughter.“Sorry I probably should have done that instead of returning it to sender.” She said apologetically

"Don’t worry about it, I shouldn't have thrown it in the first place,” John said as Charlie walked over and pulled another chair over to sit next to him.

“What are you working on that's gotten you so frustrated?" She asked and John rubbed at his temples. 

“I'm trying to write out some Haikus.”

“Gesundheit." Charlie laughed at her joke while John rolled eyes. But the laugher was short and once she'd finished, she reached out and squeezed his hand “I’m kidding, but it sounds like you need a break.” She stood up and pulled John to his feet. 

“But I want to get this done now so the rest of the weekend is free,” John feebly protesting, doing little though to stop Charlie from moving him towards their small living room. Once they'd gotten there she reached up to his face and placed her hand on his cheek. 

“No, you’re trying to force it out and if you do that you'll end up not only unhappy but also with a bad grade." John leaned into Charlie's hand and thought about what she'd just said. His hand reaching upwards and clasping hers as he smiled warmly. 

“That's actually good advice, did you come up with it on your own or is it another pearl of wisdom from Aunt Jen?"

"I may tell you if you agree to take a break with me." Charlie teased, stroking her thumb along John's cheek and nose. She failed to contain the grin as John melted from the positive touch. John let out a deep sigh and shyly looked down. 

"Okay, I give." He said after a minute. Charlie victoriously grinned and then guided John over towards their couch. she made him sit down first then flopped down next to him and then lightly pulled his head to her shoulder. Then she wrapped an arm around his back to stroke his hair. She reached for the remote to turn on the TV but John reached out and took ahold of that hand. Charlie flushed as he gave it a light squeeze. 

“I take it that you're vetoing that?.” She giggled and squeezed his hand back while John closed his eyes and chuckled. He quietly rubbed his thumb across her fingers along the bottom of her hand and Charlie forward to kiss the top of his head. 

After that, they became lost in the moment and they didn't know how long they stayed like that wrapped up in each other's arms. Of course, they didn't really care either as their entire world condensed into just their quiet moment together. But eventually enough they swapped positions and Charlie became the one receiving the most affection. With her head resting against John’s chest and their arms wrapped around each other.

They'd hardly spoken a word between them after, except for an occasional re-affirmation of their love for each other. This was compounded with John always finishing by kissing the top of Charlie’s head and causing her to quietly giggle.

As time wore on they both began to feel the peaceful pull of sleep wash over them. Charlie snuggled into John’s chest and he fully laid back as they both yawned in sync. After John had fully reclined Charlie looked up to him and smiled sleepily

“Feeling better?” She asked and touched his face again. John smiled and made an affirmative sounding noise while his eyes began to full close. Charlie pulled her hand away and proceeded to bury her face into his chest

“See, I told you this would be good...for both of us.” She yawned into his shirt. John wasn't able to give much of a reply though as his head pressed into the armrest. Tilting sideways as his breathing started evening out.

But just as they were both ready to embrace their urges to sleep, John suddenly shot his head upward and gasped loudly. The sound stirring Charlie as she quickly pulled up her head from his chest. Brushing away some hair she looked at John's determined face.

“What’s up?” She asked while doing her best to shake away the tiredness 

“I know what I need to do for the haikus,” John whispered back, his eyes lighting up with determination. Charlie smirked as she began pulling herself up, allowing John to free himself of both her embrace and the couch. He scrambled off and dashed back over to the table. Chalie quietly watched on before she stood up and quietly stretched. After taking another look back at John, she made her way towards their shared bedroom to collect a pillow and a blanket. 

By the time she'd returned John was just finishing up his second to the haiku, mumbling under his breath while he counted out the syllables. Setting down the pillow and blanket, Charlie walked over and peered over his shoulder at his work, grinning softly. 

“Have anything to say to me for helping you out?' She asked teasingly. But John didn't say anything, instead, he leaned upwards and gave Charlie a quick peck on her lips. Causing her to let out a surprised squeal before he returned to his work. Charlie looked away with a shy chuckle. "That works too...a little better actually."

But John wasn't quite done yet as he quickly scribbled something down onto the paper. Once it was finished he tapped it with his pen to draw her attention too it. Her gaze traveled down to the paper and there finding a haiku written just for her 

_'Ten long years that I_   
_Spent so far away from you_   
_Never to again.’_

Charlie read over the haiku and looked back at John. He stared expectantly back while she could only think to suck in a tense breath. She gave him a thumbs up and chuckled weakly. "Uhm, thank you I give it an A+ for effort."

John shook his head, laughing while he began to erase the haiku from the page. Charlie let go of the breath she'd taken and joined in on the laughter. After it was fully erased, John began writing down his last haiku for the project. Charlie nodded but then playfully stroked his hair and pouted.

"Aww, but what will you woo me with if you can't write poetry?" She slumped dramatically and then giggled, kissing his cheek while standing back up. "It's totally fine, never really been a fan of big sappy poems anyway." Once John finished his writing, he put the paper into a folder and turned back towards Charlie, wrapping his arms around her midsection and smiling up at her.

"Well, do you like stories then? Because I have plenty of those to spare." They both grinned at each other before John stood up and Charlie guided him back towards the couch. 

"Those, I'm always up for."

Unfortunately, the story John crafted would become one that was unfinished. Combined with their dual warmth and the coziness of the blanket they quickly returned to sleep. Though neither of them paid any mind to that fact. More than happy to just be with each other, and let the rest of the world fade away. Their only concern becoming their time with each other and how to spend it meaningfully. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgive the shortness and the lack of story progression but I wanted to show both their relationship and how much they care for each other. 
> 
> Next Chapter will definitely have more story though so I hope this fluff didn't scare any of your horror buffs off! 
> 
> Till next time!


	5. Chapter 5

' _Chk’_

Carlton sat in his room, surrounded by the darkness of the night and accompanied by the gentle flickers of flame as he repeatedly flicked a lighter open before just as quickly shut it off. He knew it was a waste of the fluid, but it was all he could think to do right then. He felt a little sick but most of all.

_‘Chk’_

He felt very guilty. The lighter had been paid for in cash and in secret where he’d been put shopping with his aunt. It was needed for what he was going to do once he returned to Hurricane. To act upon what Michael had warned him about the other night. 

Helping his friend was something he was more than willing to do. But the guilt came from how he’d was going about the plan. Despite how easy it was, lying to both his mother and aunt felt more wrong then it normally had in the past

Of course the lies he’d told had never been this big before. Just little ones to either get out of trouble or to service his pranks. But this felt like both the wrong and yet the right thing to do. 

_“Chk'_

At Clay’s insistence, Betty had invited both Cynthia and Carlton to her birthday back in Hurricane. Despite the red flags about his father’s sudden desire for him to come back, Carlton had accepted. The problem was though; it was a lie for him to get closer to his goal. Well, Michael’s goal at least. But what he’d told Carlton rattled the young man to his very center.

_‘Chk’_

It was a lot to ask of him, and if Carlton was being honest he felt like it shouldn't be his problem. Freddy’s had not even been in his family, nor had he anything to do with it aside from playing there when they’d all been kids. Spending as much time as possible was easy when one of their best friends had been the owner’s daughter.

After Michael had been taken, Carlton had thought about him every single day afterward. Always hoping and praying in vain that he would return long after the adults gave up, and he finally had.

Just not in the form he expected.

_'Chk’_

Nor did he expect Michael to ask for something so drastic. As he flicked the lighter on-again, flame gave a little extra light to the room which allowed him to see Michael in the corner of his eye once again.. 

The faded yellow fur almost blended into the shadows around it and gave the impression that the bear was indeed made from them. All that stood out only were the now-familiar pinpricks of light that started from the empty eye holes.

It was then Carlton also began hearing Michaels's voice again, it was very faint but reassuring all the same. He closed the lighter again and stared at the white lights, attempting to look brave despite the weight of the task before him.

“Gotta say Michael you’ve got more confidence in me than my own family.” He whispered into the darkness with the only reply being more of the whispers. After Michael had finished speaking, Carlton let out a half-hearted chuckle.

“Well at least someone besides my aunt and mom trusts me.” He sighed and flicked the lighter open once more.

_'Chk’_

But this time when the flame showed it’s light, there was no trace of the yellow bear to be found. Carlton didn’t even bother looking for it this time as he flicked the lighter shut and set it down onto his nightstand.

“Goodnight Michael.” He called out to the room, before laying back down and rolling over. But his hopes for a decent night's rest were flashed as his mind was swimming with the responsibilities that lay ahead. But even through all the doubts and worries, he kept focusing on one thing. That with his actions he might finally release Michael from his suit, and then his friend would finally be at peace.

\---------

_'Blah, now I know why Mr. Fitzgerald’s so addicted to coffee.’_ Charlie thought as she partially stuck out her tongue while pulling away a few loose bangs from her eyes.

After she’d come back from the weekend Jeremy and Rebecca had informed her that Kevin had taken sick, and asked if she’d be able to cover his early morning shift for him. It was a simple enough job she supposed and there was the added plus that she’d get to go home early.

However, the big downside to taking it had been waking so early in the morning. Kevin was always one of the first people at the store alongside Jeremy and Rebecca; who both normally got up and were unlocking the doors at 5 AM every day.

' _At least there aren’t a lot of people around to bother me.’_ She pushed her cart around the aisles, looking for things that needed to be stocked up. It was Kevin’s primary job to go around and make sure that Saver Saviors’ was fully stocked and ready for the customers.  
  
Perhaps it was because he was always so early that Charlie had never really seen Kevin himself for very long. Though given how tired she was already from being on the job for one day, Kevin probably always itched to get done and go home just like she was. 

Charlie let out another yawn while rubbed one hand at her eyes as the other reached for some cereal boxes. At least John had managed to talk one of his classmates into giving him a ride to class, so Charlie was able to use the car instead of walking to work in the dark.  
  
Of course, driving home while dead tired probably wasn’t a good option either. Which was also why she was considering seeing if the break room coffee was worth the price Jeremy paid for it. But her caffeine-related thoughts were rudely interrupted as a cheerful voice came from around the shelves.

“Good morning Charlotte.” Arty sang as he came into view. Charlie hoped that he didn't see her face drop as she stood up and tried to address him professionally.

“Good morning to you too Arthur.” Charlie suppressed yet another yawn as she put the cereal on the shelf. Ignoring how Arty’s face scrunched up when she said his full name.

“Hey, you know you can call me Arty right?”

“Yeah, and you can call me Charlie. Now can I help you with something?” She tried not to let her irritation show and just barely succeeded.

Arty forced away from a look of surprise with a nonchalant shrug. “Well, I heard that you were covering Kevin’s work and I just wanted to see if I could be of any help.” He leaned up against the stocking cart and peered into it. “It seems like a lot of work for just one person to do.”

“I’m getting along just fine, but thank you.” Charlie reached down for another item for and jostled the cart, causing Arty back away and stick his hands into his pockets.

“Oh well, if you change your mind you can always come to me for help with anything.” He smiled and made a little gracious gesture towards himself.

“Thanks again, but I’m handling it just fine by myself.” Charlie hoped that he would either lose interest or go back to what he was supposed to be doing. But instead, Arty clasped his hands and rocked back and forth on his heels.

“So did you and John have a good weekend together?”

Charlie’s eyebrows furrowed together and she turned to face Arty, placing a hand on her side. “Um, we had a pretty nice weekend together, thanks for asking.” Finishing up the shelf, she grabbed hold of her cart and began walking away from Arty. But this did not deter him and he began to follow behind her like a duckling.

“So what’s John like? You don’t talk about him much despite him being your boyfriend and all.”

“He’s… a very nice person, who enjoys writing.” Charlie walked just a little brisker as she moved towards the front of the store, checking her stock list to see where she needed to head next.

“Oh, I bet he’s very talented then. Has he published any books?”

“No, but he’s made a few stories here and there.”

Arty smiled and gave Charlie a meaningfully curious nod. “Oh, that’s cool at least. What are his stories about?”

Before Charlie could think of a way to politely end the conversation, the store’s intercom crackled to life as Jeremy's tired voice echoing down from above.

“Arty, your shift just started and your break isn’t till 12. Please come back and finish your task, thank you.” The intercom crackled once more before falling silent and Arty turned to sprint to the back of the store.

“Okay, I’d better get going before I actually make him mad.” He waved as he jogged away from Charlie, who only watched on in tired confusion.

_‘What the hell was that about?’_ She turned back to her cart again and began pushing it towards the registers. While the questions had been innocent enough, the sudden interest in her life outside of work was more than a bit unnerving. Mentally she told herself to try and make sure as few details of her personal life got out as possible. Not wanting to become the subject of workplace gossip any more than she had to be the center of high school gossip.

As she reached the front of the store, she saw Millie unfurling a rolled-up tube. Curiosity came over Charlie as she walked up to the counter. Hoping that talking with Millie might alleviate and distract from her previous interaction with Arty.

“Hey Millie, what do you have there?” Millie gave a slightly annoyed looking glance in Charlie's direction then addressed her.

“Some guy asked Mr. Fitzgerald if he could put up this silly looking poster for their business on the front window.” Millie turned the poster around so Charlie could see it. “Looks like some kiddy themed place; that my cousins will probably force my family to go too,” Millie straightened the poster and looked back to Charlie, only to become very concerned seeing Charlie’s “Um, are you okay?”

Charlie’s entire face had turned a ghostly white. Her once-tired eyes now wide awake as they locked onto the poster. To Millie, it looked like Charlie had seen a vengeful ghost rise from the grave.

“Charlie?” Millie called again, the concern now entering her voice. Millie reached out and grabbed one of Charlie's shoulders, which brought Charlie out of her stupor. Stumbling back, Charlie threw her hands onto the cart for support and squeezed it tight.

“S-sorry.” She muttered, though still trembling.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah just… I-I’m not feeling good all of a sudden…” Charlie trembled again and closed her eyes.

“Okay, well, you shouldn't be working restock if you’re not feeling well.”

“Don't worry… I’ll be fine... I think.” Charlie didn’t listen to anything else Millie had to say. She gripped her cart’s handle so tightly her knuckles turned white, and then almost jogged away from the counter with her head hung low.

Once she was out of sight of Millie and anyone else she relaxed her grip on the cart. Taking deep yet rushed breaths as she tried to calm down. But the image of the poster had been burned into her memory.

_‘No, no… that’s… no… there's no way someone would do that.'_ Charlie shook and held herself, in a vain effort to stop trembling. ‘It can’t be real, it has to be fake.’ She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that she could convince herself otherwise. But the image returned to the forefront of her mind.

It was the truth, it was real and she knew it. No matter how much she’d tried to deny it, there on the poster had been the face of her nightmares for over a year. The face of the restaurant which had led to her father’s downfall and demise and while his appearance may have been considerably altered, there was no mistaking that the smiling bear on the poster as anyone else besides Freddy Fazbear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and hey we got more plot progression! Everyone take a guess as to which generation of the animatronics are going to be featured. Though those who have been helping me know the answer. 
> 
> Shout out to my awesome sister Ro for helping me rewrite Arty's scene here! Stay safe and healthy!


	6. Chapter 6

_‘88% Good work, just need to tie them into more of a theme and work on syllable count.’_

Despite the professor's note, John couldn’t be more pleased with his grade. The haiku assignment was finally behind him and he had passed, although it wasn’t a perfect score it was better than a failing one. With a confident stride, he walked out of the campus and towards the parking lot. He didn't have as many classes as he normally did so he got out a lot earlier.

John walked out to the parking lot and began looking around for someone he knew to see if he could get a ride from them when he caught sight of Charlie’s blue honda. It was parked as close as it could get to the sidewalk and he could see Charlie sitting inside. Her head titled low and facing away from him, eyes cast out the window next to her as she slumped in her seat.

Feeling his eyes getting wider with joy, John found that he almost couldn't contain his excitement as he broke into a light run to get to the car faster. Although Charlie's posture was concerning, he chalked it up to her being tired as he reached the car and rapped his knuckle on the window. He watched as Charlie glanced up and turned her head towards the noise and a faint yet slightly forced smile appeared on her face.

She gave John a little wave and unlocked the doors, allowing him to slid into the car. “Hey, I thought you’d be at home sleeping.” He reached for his seat belt while Charlie racked her brain for a decent excuse because she didn’t want to tell John about the poster. Not yet anyway, but then again she didn't exactly want to believe it either. Doing her best to repress the thought of a new Freddy's she smiled and said,

“I thought I should come to pick you up, that way we could see each other sooner.” She tenderly touched the side of John’s face but could see he wasn’t totally believing it.

“You were waiting a pretty long time then.” John placed his hand over Charlie’s own and looked at her, noticing that she looked rather perturbed “Did anything happen at work?” Charlie forced her smile to grow wider and stroked his cheek with her thumb. She leaned in close to him and pressed her lips to his.

“Nothing that some time with you won’t fix.” She whispered while pulling back from him. John leaned forward and kissed her forehead in return. Charlie contentedly sighed at the touch of his lips. She could feel her tension and anxiety from seeing the poster washing away and wrapped her arms around John’s neck. Once more they met the other's lips, John stroking Charlie’s hair as they sat embraced. It was only they when they pulled away for some air that Charlie spotted the graded paper that was now laying on the center console

“Is that your haiku assignment?” She reached and took the paper from his hand and read over the teacher's note. Once she’d finished, Charlie set it down and knowingly grinned. “Ha, I told you relaxing was good.”

“I’ll never doubt your wisdom again darling.” John half bowed in his seat, making Charlie giggle.

“Let’s get out of here before we attract a crowd.” She said and started up the car. Once they’d pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road, John asked

“Did you eat something before coming for me?”

Charlie flinched a little and didn't respond, trying to come up with a believable answer but her stomach decided to but in and loudly growled. She looked down at it at the same time as John and shot it a dirty glare. 'Traitor'

“You went all that time without eating?” John asked.

“Well, I wasn’t too hungry and besides I prefer your cooking to fast food.” Charlie reached over and squeezed John’s hand with a loving smile. Though his face became half-stern.

“Soon as we get home you’re getting a snack.” He said, in a mock parental tone.

“No, then I won’t want dinner.” Charlie pouted.

“I’m going to make spaghetti tonight and we both know that's one of your favorites.” Charlie waved John away from her with a playful groan and a roll of her eyes. After a year of dating, John knew all of Charlie's excuses inside and out. Of course, she also knew his so if things went too far sometimes, it became a small battle of wits to convince the other about something. It was never anything serious though and they all would boil just making sure the other was taken care of.

“Alright you win, but I don’t want to go overboard with the snack...?” She stopped midsentence when she noticed that John had suddenly turned his head mid-conversation and was not staring out the window. His eyes wide and his face becoming pale.

“John?” Charlie slowed the car a little and looked out the windshield in his direction before he blood suddenly turned to ice. Looming over the roadway was on a large billboard was the upper half of Freddy Fazbear with his arms outstretched and raised welcomingly to all who saw him. To his left was a blue and white rabbit with striking green eyes and to their far-right was also a much thinner version of Chica holding her cupcake on a platter. Just like Freddy both of their arms raised in a joyous manner, while the blue rabbit was almost somehow playing his guitar.

Beneath the small group, In big letters beneath the three animals was an announcement: **“Coming Soon: Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria and Kids Entertainment Center.”**

John’s face snapped around to look at Charlie and he wordlessly pointing towards the billboard in shock. She matched both his gaze and expression as they stared silently up at the towering image. The same characters that still periodically haunted their nightmares. Charlie's hands gripped tight on the steering wheel before she stepped hard on the gas pedal to get them as far away from the sign as possible. She felt watched and by the way John was reacting he felt the same way. At that moment they both felt the urge to get away Freddy’s welcoming, yet to them intimidating stare.

It may have just been art on a sign but the effect it had on them was all the same. The blue honda pulled away as fast as Charlie could get it to go, trying to leave Freddy and his friends behind them. But even as they lost sight of the billboard they could still sense his gaze following them all the way home.  
\-------------  
“You’re kidding, why on earth would someone even do that?” Charlie couldn't help but wince at Jessica’s volume over the phone. Though it was understandable as she’d also felt like screaming ever since she saw the poster in the store.

John and her had returned to their apartment in silence, with Charlie heading for a shower instead of a snack as she’d earlier promised. They both needed time to think about what they had seen and Charlie had hoped a warm shower might help organize her mind. After finishing her shower and getting dressed for the evening, she’d found a plate with a sliced up apple and a jam sandwich waiting for her on the table with John playing dumb about where it’d come from.

As she started to thank him for his concern despite his playful denial, that Jessica had called. So now Charlie was explaining everything to Jessica while simultaneously munching on her snack. “Looks like it and I’m not sure who’s exactly behind it,” Charlie spoke in between bites of her apple, while Jessica sighed in disbelief.

“Shouldn't your aunt know anything about this, or like warned you it was happening?”

“No, she was never really involved with it...as far as I can remember. Plus there's no way she'd let this happen, especially after what happened to us last year." Charlie rubbed her arm, where a scar from the year prior was still visible. Wincing at the memory of Jen freaking out when she’d learned where it came from. She’d gotten Charlie to a doctor and told her niece off for doing something so reckless while also cursing Henry for putting an actual sharp hook on Foxy. “It’s not really something we can talk about with her anyway.”

“Yeah, it seems to be a touchy subject for all the adults that lived through it. My parents still don’t know everything that happened last year and I intend to keep it that way.” Charlie bit down into another apple slice and sighed. It was a little petty but a part of her envied how easy it was for Jessica and Lamar to keep things under wraps from their families. They'd emerged from Freddy’s unscathed aside from the occasional nightmare.

Unfortunately, that was something that herself, Jason, Marla, and Carlton hadn’t fared too well with as they all came out with some injury. Scarred both mentally and physically from everything that had happened. Even though things had gotten better for her, part of Charlie still regretted ever returning to that place.   
  
“Though, and don't take this the wrong way, but I'm surprised you're taking this better than expected." Jessica hesitantly stated and Charlie's face fell. She wasn't, not at all. The calm exterior she presented to Jessica was little more than a shell that was masking her resurfacing pain. Disregarding everything going on with Arty, she'd been having a decent life again. A job, a new home, she'd been happy. 

_'Why now and why here?_ ' She began to squeeze the phone tightly in her hand as she fought some tears that formed in her eyes. She took a deep, calming breath before replying to Jessica. “I’m… doing the best I can considering the circumstances,” she whispered, her voice slightly choking towards the end. She breathed sharply again, hoping that neither Jessica or John heard it. But she could hear John set his pencil down and feel his eyes turn to look at her. Not only that but Jessica let out an understanding short hum on the other end.

They knew fully that she wasn't doing well. She closed her eyes tightly and breathed again, practicing a small exercise her therapist showed her. She'd moved all the way across the country to escape the shadow that Freddy's cast over her life. Yet it had followed her, like some predator stalking after it's prey.   
  
_'It can't follow you, it's a building, not a person.'_ While harsh, her brain was at least a little reassuring this time and she swallowed hard before completing her breathing exercise and addressing Jessica once again. 

"There's nothing I can do about it anyway, whoever's doing it probably wouldn't even think twice about listening to me." She leaned back against the kitchen wall and did another breathing exercise in a continued effort to calm herself. "Besides, we're kinda outside the age range it'll be catering too and none of us have kids so staging any kind of boycott would be pointless." 

Jessica hummed again and chuckled. "Well yeah, but maybe you can like to spill the beans on Freddy's shady past. Maybe that'd be enough to stop it in its tracks." 

"No...I'd rather just...try and avoid the whole thing altogether." 

"I can understand that, maybe then it's good I called because I've got something to ask you," Jessica said and Charlie blinked. She leaned against the countertop and tapped her finger against it. 

“One of my teachers has to go out for a conference so I've got an extended weekend to kill and I wanted to know if I could come down and see you guys.” 

Charlie perked up a little at the thought of having Jessica come by for a visit. The last time they'd really seen each other was when she'd helped them get moved in. With the new Freddy's weighing on her mind, another familiar face might do we some good. 

“S-Sure, did you mean this weekend?" 

"Yeah, unless John has something or you're busy with work."   
  
Charlie reached across the counter and pulled a notebook that'd been lying underneath the cabinets closet to her. Both she and John had been writing down their schedules in it, so if anything came up they would be on the same page with what they could do. She quietly gave it a quick glance over before turning back around towards John and called out to him.

“John, do you have anything due or planned this weekend?” John flinched as he realized he'd still been looking back at Charlie and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Um, I'd have to check but it's still pretty early in the semester so I don't think there's anything I need to worry about." 

“Okay, because Jessica wants to know if we can spare a weekend with her.” She forced a brighter look on her face to match the little joke she was making. Though she knew John could tell that it was a life, he chuckled a little anyway.

"sure, we both could probably benefit from seeing a familiar face." He said and Charlie turned back to the phone.

“Yeah this weekend will work and we can go out for dinner, my treat.”

“Oooh, look at you with the disposable income.” Both girls laughed before Jessica announced she had to go and do her own homework and she wished John luck on his own before hanging up. After she was done, Charlie put back both the phone and notebook before rising up from the countertop. As soon as she was fully upright though, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her body in a gently loving embrace. She didn't even need to guess who it was as she reached down and tightly squeezed John's hands. 

He didn't ask if she was alright, they both knew that answer. Even with Jessica's welcome distraction, the new Freddy's loomed large in their minds still. Charlie turned herself around and reciprocated the hug. Wrapping her arms tightly around John and burying her face into his shoulder as memories from the past filled her mind. 

They were scattered, but all of them shared the same theme of reflecting on her losses from Freddy's. From her brother Sammy, Micheal, and then her own father, Though she always did feel like she'd lost part of herself during the whole ordeal too. Her fingers suddenly begin twitching, followed by the rest of her body as she recalled back to when she trigged the spring-locks in "Dave's" suit. An action born of panic, fear, and rage that she'd forever regret. 

As she thought back on all she'd lost as well as her own actions, she found herself squeezing John slightly more protectively. Determined to not to let him go as well as make him her anchor to the present. She tried to tell herself that it couldn't hurt her now. That she had a life and purpose outside of those drawing covered pizzeria walls and that Freddy didn't define or rule her life.

It was something that she knew...was a lie. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back! Things are going to start moving along now, though we've got kinda a double plot for these next few chapters. One side will be Carlton's story and the other half will further Charlie's ongoing one. 
> 
> It'll all come together in the end. Stay safe and healthy guys, remember to wash your hands.

WELCOME TO HURRICANE, UTAH

“You’d think that after almost years they’d update that sign,” Cynthia dryly remarked as her car rolled past the sign and into Hurricane’s city limits. “Or at least put up a new one that actually says something positive about this place.”

“Come to Hurricane: we have year-round natural air conditioning?” Carlton joked, referring to the usual wind storms that rolled through the town. Cynthia let out a laugh and lightly slugged her nephew on the shoulder.

“Nice one Kiddo, it already makes the place sound more appealing!" While she’d hidden it from him as a child, ever since he moved in with her Carlton came to realize that aunt shared a similar mindset to his own about Hurricane. The town where nothing seemed to happen, no one left, and everyone liked things to remain “normal.” Not to mention his treatment after Dunn’s murder. All of which all served as a bitterly painful reminder of why he left.

 _‘You’re here for Mom and Micheal, once this is done you’ll never have to come back again.’_ Carlton reminded himself and leaned his head against the car window to try relaxing his mind. But that proved difficult as he gazed out at the scenery he had been so eager to never see again. Despite having spent almost half a year away, all of the sites still looked dull as they’d been when he left. All the familiar sights around him weren't able to bring about even the slightest twinge of nostalgia.

As they drove into the town center, Cynthia’s eyes fell upon a large box truck waiting at the traffic lights. It was colored in dark green with the words “TAYLOR ENTERPRISES’ stamped on its sides.

“Huh...Taylor Enterprises… I wonder what he’s doing back in this town.” She quietly asked herself and Carlton glanced up to see the truck for himself. The name caused something to stir in his memory and he could swear that his parents had mentioned someone with the name Taylor a couple of times but he wasn’t sure. But before he could definitely pin down the memory, the traffic light turned green allowing the truck to rumble off on its way out of the town. Cynthia also turned her car in the direction of the Burke family home and they set off down the road.

Before too long the car pulled up to the enormous house that had been Carlton’s childhood home, though like with everything else it now held a bittersweet place in Carlton’s heart. Before the car had even stopped, Betty had opened the door and was rushing out to greet her sister and son.

“Betts,” Cynthia shouted out the window as she parked the car and jumped out to hug her sister. “Happy birthday.”

“Thanks but you know it’s not until tomorrow,” Betty said, causing Cynthia to laugh. “Yeah, but I wanted to be the one who said it first.” The two sisters broke their hug apart and Betty’s attention was drawn towards Carlton as he stepped out of the car with a polite wave.

“Hey Mom,” was all he managed to say before Betty snapped him up in a tight squeeze. He smiled warmly and returned the hug. It felt really nice to be around more people who cared about him, even if it was just his mom.

“Have you been doing okay over at your aunt’s sweetie?” Betty asked, pulling back and lightly brushing her son's hair.

“Yeah, though I’ve been trying to help her out around the house and she keeps refusing.”

“You’re a guest not a servant and I don’t believe in slavery.” Cynthia retorted as she walked around the car and headed for the trunk. Carlton fought back a flinch before quickly walking away from his mom and over to the trunk.

“Can you at least let me get our bags?” he asked quickly while moving in front of his aunt to block her from the trunk. She looked at him incredulously but he leaned close and explained himself. “I don’t want Mom to see what we got her just yet.”

Cynthia nodded and chuckled a bit at her nephew, before walking back over to Betty. Carlton opened up the trunk to begin pulling out the luggage as Cynthia chatted up her sister.

“So, where’s the man of the house.” She asked, deepening her voice towards the end to mock Clay a little. Betty sighed deeply but laughed at her sister's voice and then looked over at Carlton.

“He’ll be going to be joining us later because there’s been something pretty big occupying his time right now.” She spoke somewhat bitterly but there was also an underlying sense of relief in her voice. Cynthia placed a hand on her hip and cocked her body a little to the side

“Does it happen to have anything to do with the Taylor Enterprises truck I just saw going through town?” Betty went to speak again but stopped to look back at Carlton before she motioned her sister away from him. They started to walk around the house and the last thing that Carlton overheard in their conversation was,

“It has everything to do with that-” Their voices faded out of earshot as they walked away and out of Carlton’s sight. Which he was very grateful for as he continued to dig around in the trunk. While he had every intention of getting his mother’s present, it was Cynthia discovering what he’d also put in the bag had him worried. Back when he’d been packing up everything, it had seemed like a good idea.

Of course, he’d realized the mistake too late, but thankfully the present had done its job. He dug the bag out and unzipped it so he could pull them out wrapped present and make sure everything he needed hadn’t been tossed about during the drive. He set the bag down next to his suitcase and double-checked the other contents. Much to his relief, everything that he needed hadn’t been damaged in transit. But he knew he ought to double-check once he was inside. After putting the present back into the bag he zipped it up and then lightly tossed it over his shoulder.

Carlton then grabbed the suitcases and started walking towards the house with the suitcases rumbling along behind him. All the way to the house he was mentally planning out what he’d do once inside. He knew the first thing to do was to hide the bag away in his old room, then he would have to see if his parents changed up their sleeping routines: but even then he had a few ideas regarding that too.

Despite all the planning though, he could feel the guilt threatening to consume him. But it was too late to turn back now because of how far he’d come. While lying to everyone made his stomach knot up like in his stomach like a noose, he was confident he could pull it off without his family noticing.

Then they might be able to finally move past all their troubles, his best friend would finally find the peace that had eluded him for far too long.

\--------

Charlie shivered against the bitter chill and pulled the collar of her jacket tight around her face After she’d done that her hands flew back into her pockets like birds scrambling for bread. Though clearly not fast enough as she still felt a shiver while stealing yet another glance at the large clock on the station wall.

 _‘Almost 6:30, Jessica’s train should've been here by now.’_ She glanced down the platform and wondered how Jessica of all people could get on a train that ran late although it wasn’t like Jessica could have a say in the matter if it was.

An announcement over the intercom and the distant clattering of wheels made her step back and turn her head to watch an arriving train slowly roll into the station. Throughout the rest of the week, Jessica and Charlie had discussed more than a few plans about how to spend the weekend. The first hurdle though had been finding a way to Brookhaven due to it being a few hours outside of New York itself. But the always resourceful Jessica had found a train that would take her to the station the next town over from Brookhaven.

Thankfully it wasn't a long drive over to get her, though it was certainly a chilly one as nights started becoming colder as the fall months dragged on towards winter. _‘Just means more reasons to huddle under blankets with John’_ Charlie bit back a smile at the warming thought and watched on as the train finally crawled to a stop.

She backed further away from the train as the doors opened and a crowd of people spilled out. Most of them moved out into the station itself after a long day of work. So Charlie kept herself back but continued to peer about to try and spot Jessica in the crowd. This was something that proved to be a rather easy task as even with her hair tucked mostly beneath a beanie cap, Jessica stood out amongst the other commuters. Her tall stature and confident demeanor were apparent even beneath the layers she’d worn to fend off the cold.

“Jessica!” Charlie called and started to wave her arm. Jessica looked up as Charlie called out again and began lightly waving both of her arms. Jessica grinned and made her way over towards Charlie who started to weave her way through the crowd. The two of them managing to meet up halfway and embrace the other in a tight hug.

“Welcome back to our little neck of the woods,” Charlie said jokingly and pulled down the collar of her coat so she wouldn't be muffled “Did everything go okay? The train was a little late getting here...”

“How about I be nice just say that it could have been better, but hey I’m only a couple of minutes late.” Jessica sighed as she and Charlie started walking towards the station exit. “Public transport is a real nightmare sometimes.”

“That’s why I’m glad to have a car.” Charlie laughed and leaned over to lightly nudge Jessica’s side.

“Lucky you, though I don’t envy you guys for having to drive over here cross country.” Both girls started laughing until Jessica looked over Charlie more closely and then squinted.

“Please tell me that those aren't your heaviest winter clothes.” She asked while pointing at her friend's outfit. Charlie looked down at her outfit curiously and then back at Jessica with a confused shrug.

“I-I guess they are, though I do feel like it’s a little early to be wearing a thousand layers.” She frowned as Jessica’s face took on a sympathetic grimace. Charlie responded to this by cocking her head and raising an eyebrow. “What?”

“You’re going to freeze to death if that’s what you plan to wear all winter.” Jessica bluntly replied and Charlie stared at her more than a bit confused.

“These were enough for me back in Utah.” She half-whispered as she pulled out on her coat, but Jessica just shook her head.

“Yeah it was fine for Utah but winter being near the ocean during winter is entirely different.” She said as they stepped out of the station and walked out into the cool evening, where Charlie’s blue Honda sat waiting for them along with John’s smiling face. As they approached, John rolled down the window and called out to them. “Hey, you two don’t happen to need a ride do you?” Charlie laughed as Jessica smirked.

“Does it look like we're that cold already?” 

“Yeah, yeah you do.” Jessica deadpanned, looking from Charlie to John with trepidation while the couple looked more than a little surprised at her comment. “How did both of you manage to come all the way over here and be this unprepared for winter?”

“I must have missed something.” John thought aloud as the two girls climbed into the car with Charlie sitting upfront with John and Jessica taking one of the backseats. Charlie sighed as she pulled down her coat a bit more to take in the warm air from the car's heater. She raised her hands up to one of the vents to warm them up and looked back at Jessica, who just shook her head.

“We need to get you guys some warmer clothes,” She looked pointedly at Charlie’s hands. “, especially some decent gloves.”

“But I have John’s hands to warm me up.” Charlie jokingly pouted and reached over to squeeze John’s hands. He smiled and squeezed back, causing the two of them to giggle.

“Okay but you won’t have John around all the time, and he’ll get cold too,” Jessica commented and John blinked at Charlie.

“Alright, can someone tell me what exactly it is I missed?”

Before Charlie or Jessica could explain, a loud car horn made them all jump. It was then they remembered where they were and John put the car into drive so they could lead. Quickly, they drove out of the station’s parking lot onto the main road. Once they had settled into the flow of traffic Charlie began giving directions to their restaurant and after John had a good idea of where to go Jessica piped up once again “So where’d you hear of this steakhouse again?”

“One of my co-workers, Kevin, suggested it. He told me that this place is some of the best in New York.”

“I’ll be the judge of that, thank you,” Jessica said in a fake snooty tone that made everyone in the car laugh.

Charlie leaned back into her seat and relaxed in the warmth of the heater. Being with two of her best friends proved to be rather cleansing for her after the recent events in her life. It brought back a sense of normalcy and seemed to push all of her problems away. She was ready to forget it all and have a fun and peaceful night with her closest friends.

Something that would, unfortunately, be denied from her a little while longer.


	8. Chapter 8

Darkness had begun to fall by the time the group arrived at the steakhouse, which initially masked the realization that Charlie's information was more than a little accurate. The parking lot was packed to the brink like a giant sardine can. Because of the fullness, John was forced to park almost a whole street away from the building. Meaning that the three of them were forced to run to it in the cold.

Normally Charlie would have playfully proposed a race between them, but the lowering temperatures destroyed her sense of playful competition. The focus now was on just getting back to some warmth. Although the experience did have the benefit of making her rethink Jessica’s early comments and Charlie slowly found herself agreeing with her points. Judging by how much John was shivering she didn’t doubt he’d object. To the idea either.

Once they’d reached the entrance their running turned into a steady walk as Charlie walked right over to the host. After a quiet exchange, she motioned for John and Jessica to follow the host back to one of the tables. To their delight, they were immediately seated and given menus as well as drinks,

“For a place that’s packed they got us in pretty quickly,” Jessica said, looking about the sea of patrons before glancing back to Charlie. “Though something tells me your little conversation played a hand there.”

Charlie played around with her straw and grinned triumphantly. “I might have called ahead and paid a bit extra to reserve us a table; It was something I thought of doing just in case Kevin was telling the truth about it being very packed.”

“Well cheers to your intuition because otherwise, I doubt we’d have even gotten through the door,” John said while looping his arm around Charley's shoulders. She flashed Jessica a smirk while leaning into John and winking.

“See, I’ve learned how to think ahead.” She teased, which earned her a chuckle from the taller girl.

“It’s a start But I’m going to wait till we have our food and then I’ll determine if it was worth your extra money,” Jessica spoke in a mock posh tone and flicked her hair in an exaggerated manner that elicited small giggles amongst them.

After the giggling died down, Jessica looked over at John then leaned closer to him. “So how have you settled into being a college boy John,"

“It’s been a little up and down, some classes are easier than others harder. Not too different from high school actually.” He drummed his fingers along the table with a little chuckle. ”After everything the career counselors described, I thought it was going to be a warzone."

“I’ve never put too much thought into what they tell us,” Charlie said while leaning a bit further into John’s shoulder,

“Yeah, someone once tried to convince me to become an actress.” Jessica looked down at her drink and used her straw to swirl it around in circles. “Most of em just look for superficial things and grades to try determining your future.”

“Don't forget how they sometimes push you towards whatever your family does too.” John chimed in before glancing aside. “At least now my only massive hurdle is trying to pass the poetry parts of the course."

“Oh? So you’re not going to try making Charlie swoon with passionate verses about your love for her?” Jessica dramatically placed a hand to her forehead while Charlie bit back a grin and flushed.

“Well if that’s his plan then I hope he tries a bit better in the future … his attempt to win me over with a haiku wasn't too impressive.”

“Those things are so limiting,” John muttered before taking another sip of his drink.

“Couldn't be any worse than what I read in Donnie's notebook,” Jessica said, mentioning the crush she’d told Charlie about last year. Charlie instinctively grabbed hold of the hand John looped around her shoulder and squeezed it.

“Don’t you dare break John like you did Donnie, I like him just the way he is now,”

“Wasn’t planning on it, so aside from listening to John’s poetry what’s the rest of your life like right now?” Jessica asked and then took another sip from her drink. “The nine to five work going okay?”

“It’s alright for what it is; it’s a discount store after all so there’s never a lot going on.” Charlie shrugged

“No workplace gossip to share?” Jessica teased while Charlie shook her head “no”

“I just like to keep my head down and avoid drama, besides I get along well with almost everyone there so I’ve yet to have any real problems” Jessica looked over towards John to judge his reaction, but he continued to remain calm besides taking a drink while also running Charlie's shoulder with his thumb. But Jessica could tell he was avoiding her gaze, at least he was trying to give off a better poker face than Charlie,

“So have there been any no so “real” problems then?” Jessica innocently asked, causing Charlie to half sigh. _‘There’s no hiding anything from Jessica.’_ Jessica tilted forwards a bit further smirking slyly while Charlie tried to think of a way to change the subject. Workplace drama wasn’t something she liked to engage in or talk about, especially outside of work but she knew that the more she avoided it the more persistent Jessica would become.

“It’s no big deal, I’m just dealing with some kid that’s kind of annoying there, and he’s a bit too persistent about wanting my attention.”

Jessica hummed loudly then slowly nodded her head. “That’s a classic sign of a crush if I’ve ever heard of one, you’ve told him about John already right?”

“Yeah and I think that may have finally settled him down, I hope it did at least.” His crush was something that Charlie had always known about and she’d responded by not entertaining it. After it's finally clicked why he wanted to talk, she opted to just treat him like a normal co-worker in the hopes he would eventually lose interest.

“So what’s your take on that?” Jessica directed her next question at John, who gave Charlie a supportive glance.

“Honestly it’s not something I feel the need to get worked up about.”John had been perhaps the only other person Charlie had mentioned Arty too outside of work. But while the interest Arty had shown was a little concerning to John, he was confident that Charlie knew how to handle him.

After that, John switched things around and asked Jessica about her own classes, but as she started talking Charlie suddenly began feeling watched. She pulled away from John to look around the restaurant and try to spot whoever was staring at her. After a brief moment of scanning though, she couldn't see anyone until she looked towards the main entrance. It was then she found herself locking eyes with an all too familiar face.

‘ _Arty?’_

The curly-haired boy grinned warmly and waved to her before then turning to address the man next to him. He said a few quick words to him before the man walked back towards the kitchen and Arty started walking over to Charlie’s table. She lowered herself and hoped that with the packed restaurant he wouldn't be able to find them. But unfortunately, her earlier luck did not extend to this moment.

“Charlotte? What are you doing here?” John and Jessica both looked up at Arty as he meandered over to their table. Jessica looked from him to Charlie, shocked that he’d addressed Charlie by her full name. Charlie meanwhile was doing her best not to groan while composing herself.

“Hey Arthur, I’m just having dinner with a few friends.” She said with a forced smile and subtlety motioned for John to place his arm across her shoulder again. The action coupled with the mention of his full name caused Arty’s smile to fade, but he was quick to put it back on his face.

“Oh right, my bad, _Charlie_. It's good to see that you’re getting out.” Arty said but kept his gaze firmly locked upon Charlie without bothering to acknowledge John or Jessica. He pointed his thumb back towards the person he’d walked in with, who was entering the kitchen. “I’m tagged along with my cousin for the night and then going out on the town later,” he said without any sort of prompting or question from the group,

“That’s nice, so he works here as a cook?” Jessica asked, trying to be at least a little polite. However, her question was ignored as Arty’s face suddenly lit up.

“Hey, would you and your friends like to come with me so I can show you all around?”

“That’s nice Arty, but I already have plans with my friends.” Charlie quickly said, but then grimaced as Arty’s face fell as well as his demeanor.

“Oh...are you sure?”

“Yeah but thanks anyway.” Charlie attempted to sound encouraging and Arty rolled his shoulders before once more putting the smile back on his face.

“Alright then, I hope that you have a good time with your friends and that you stay safe out there.” He gave them all a little wave goodbye before walking off into the restaurant and left behind an unnerved Charlie. Along with a slightly confused John and Jessica, who kept her eyes on Arty until he was out of sight, then looked back to Charl

“That wouldn't happen to have been the kid you were talking about, was it?"

“Yep that’s the one,” Charlie said, leaning back into John’s shoulder. Jessica shook her head before once more swirling her straw with a look of unease.

“So I take it he’s not a fan of your name then?”

“He likes my full name, but as long as he insists on calling me Charlotte I’ll be calling him Arthur.” Charlie smiled when she felt John’s hand move over and squeeze hers.

“Well, I think Charlie sounds much better anyway.” He said, causing Charlie to look up and tap him on the nose.

“You don’t get to talk; you did the same thing back when we were kids.” She smiled as John flushed. Which had the extra benefit of relieving some of the tenseness leftover from Arty’s earlier intrusion Then all further conversation was put on hold as a waiter brought over their menus and after ordering their food, John excused himself to use the restroom. As he made his way over it, he walked past a booth with a single occupant who rose and started following behind him.

Upon reaching the bathroom, John was dismayed to discover that a small line had gathered outside it. But without any other options, he resigned himself to waiting with everyone else. He leaned against a wall and decided to let his mind wander, not really interested in making conversation with the others who were waiting. 

“I guess everything about this place is packed tonight.” He quietly murmured but jumped as he was approached by his unknown follower

“Yeah it gets this way on the weekends, but this is one of the better nights,” John looked sharply to the right as Artycame up beside him.“, my cousin once told me about a night where one of the cooks had to walk out and shoo out several customers because they didn’t have enough food.”

“Well, I’m...glad this isn’t one of those nights.” John looked away from Arty and back towards the bathroom, silently hoping that the line would speed up.

“Yeah the weekend can be a pretty bad time to come, but hey ya know it’s probably very hard getting time out to do stuff like this.” Arty gestured about the room and then chuckled to himself. Reaching out, he patted John on the back and caused him to jolt from his leaning position.

“Course working hard is something we can all relate to, right?”

“Well yeah though thankfully college isn’t too hard on me,” John rubbed his neck but Arty looked at him with a confused expression.

“Collage? Charlotte told me that you were a published writer...I mean since I assume that you’re John because who else would she be out and about with?” John shifted away from Arty before thinking of a reply.

“I am published but it was just some magazines back home and yeah I’m taking classes. But that’s just because I can always find a way to get better y'know.”

“Oh, so Charlotte’s the one making all of the dough while you go off to classes then?"

“I guess you can say that, but I’ll probably get a job of my own once summer comes along.” John moved with the line while Arty inhaled sharply then let out a curious sounding hum.

“Oh well, it’s a start but you’ll need something more than that to get by.”

The line began to move again and John tried to put some distance from himself and Arty. The conversation had taken a turn John was all too familiar with thanks to similar ones with father, bringing back a slew of unpleasant memories.

Thankfully his turn came up rather quickly and entered to do his business. Though it was a little concerning that by the time he existed, Arty was gone. He walked back to the table and tried to put Arty out of his mind but for the rest of their dinner but the entire time both Charlie and John felt more than a little uneasy. They only relaxed when they left the restaurant to go looking for stores to pick out winter clothing, as Jessica had finally won them over the idea.

All the while they hoped that interaction with Arty would be their last for a while, a hope that was unknowingly hoping in vain.

\---------  
The best way Carlton could think of to describe the atmosphere in the Burkes dining room was awkward, although he knew that John, being a writer, would have a better one. The air about them had intensified as soon as Clay arrived home from work and brought with him take-out from one of Carlton’s favorite restaurants.

From the looks that his aunt and mother had given Clay, Carlton knew this was as surprising to them as it was to him. When he came into the house and set the bags down, he greeted Carlton with a warm and tight hug. “Welcome back little soldier.” Clay whispered, and it took all of Carlton’s willpower to not immediately shove Clay away from him,

“Little Soldier” had been his nickname his dad used for most of his childhood. But it was always said it after a command and never with love. To be “brave” and to “behave” tended to be the comment uses associated with it. Carlton never saw it as a nickname, but more his father trying to incorporate part of work into raising him.

Giving him commands disguised as advice and compliments to trick him into following them. This resulted in Carlton always becoming tenser whenever the name was said, But this went unseen by Clay who happily handed him the food he’d brought home.

“I got your favorite tonight Carlton, I thought you’d miss having this stuff living with your aunt.”

“Thanks, Dad, but I thought this weekend was about mom.” Carlton looked over towards his mother, whose expression bore a mixture of apologetic and guiltiness. Cynthia, however, did not attempt at all not disguise her displeasure.

“It’s about coming together and being a family, which we’ve been missing a big part of with you gone.” Clay said before hugging Carlton again and headed off into the kitchen to fetch some plates.As a result, the joyous atmosphere that Clay had been hoping for was replaced by silence with awkwardly idle between the adults. Carlton was content to tone it all out when a question was finally directed towards him.

“So have you had any luck figuring out your next steps?” Clay innocently, which made Cynthia give him a hard look. Carlton leaned back in his seat and shook his head.

“Not really, but I’m thinking about getting a job at that one theme park.” His father nodded in approval.

“A good start to your working career, though it won’t get you very far so always keep your prospects open.”

“He’ll be fine no matter what he does and he’ll always have a place to call home,” Cynthia interjected. Before Clay could tell Cynthia it was just friendly advice, Carlton spoke up to both of his parents.

“So have either of you two had any interesting things happen at work lately?” He paused when Betty and Clay flinched and exchanged glances. It seemed as though they were prepared for this question and Clay nodded to his wife before answering Carlton’s question.

“Well I can’t say there has been, everything around here has been quiet on my end. While he spoke, Betty not so gently shoved her fork into her meal before adding in her own comment.

“Even when it’s quiet though I’m still busy.” She humorlessly chuckled and absently dug around her food. Carlton decided to keep his focus on his own meal, but he knew his parents were trying to hide something. Like Carlton, Cynthia just kept her eyes on her food and just took in the conversation while picking at her food.

“Besides even if we had something active, we wouldn't be allowed to tell you much anyway.” Clay shook his silverware like he was pointing a finger. “It’s like what they told my uncle in the Navy, “Loose lips sink ships.”

“Well I don’t think we’re in any danger of sinking around here, we’re kinda landlocked,” Carlton said dryly, causing Cynthia to laugh while his mother snorted. Clay enthusiastically chuckled before staring back down into his meal.

Carlton went to add onto the joke but was cut off as a loud yawn escaped from his mouth instead which startled everyone else at the table. Once he was finished, Carlton shook his head while also rubbing at his eyes.

“Woah, guess the drive here tired me out more than I realized.” This was met with another yawn from the direction of his aunt.

“Now that you mention it, I’m feeling more than a bit tired myself.” Pushing away his plate, Carlton stood up and stretched with another yawn before pushing his chair. “If it’s alright with everyone I think I’m going to call it an early night.” 

Clay leaned back into his own chair before standing up. “That’s quite alright don’t think anyone wants you falling asleep in the cake, especially Betty.

"That’s funny I didn't even know I was getting a cake.” Betty sarcastically said and shot her husband an annoyed look. Clay sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as he realized he’d given away one of his surprises for tomorrow.

Deciding to not stick around any longer lest things turn into an argument, Carlton quickly said his goodnights and made his way back to his old room. Doing his best to tune out anything he might have heard his family said. But beneath the tiredness, there was a sense of urgency and nervousness rising.

He was so close, but he knew he needed at least some sleep before he set out on his task. Both to recharge his batteries and also to give everyone else time to fall asleep. If they found out about his plan then that would be the end of it. There was no going back now, tonight would be the last night of Micheal's torment. Maybe then he could focus on putting his family back together. 

It was a distant dream, but perhaps maybe once Freddy's shadow was gone they could all start again. It was this small yet imporbable hope that continued to push Carlton forward. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Props to my sister Rowena_Bensel for helping me with this chapter! 
> 
> Thanks sis! 
> 
> See you all next week!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is probably the chapter that underwent the most rewrites, Still not sure if I'm entirely happy with it but let me know what you guys think.

After they’d finished up at the steakhouse, Jessica had finally talked both Charlie and John into going to the nearest shopping center to get some winter clothes. Though the chilling weather and the realization it would probably get worse played a big part too.

This was how Charlie found herself standing in front of a mirror in a puffy white jacket. As she turned herself around to give it a good examination, Jessica took a few steps away to properly examine the jacket while letting out a curious hum.

“I think it looks great, but you’ll need to be careful it doesn't get dirty.” She advised, causing Charlie to turn back with a raised eyebrow. "White clothes stain very easily, so while it’s not impossible...it’ll be very hard to get stains out.” Jessica clarified.

Charlie examined the coat once again, it did look nice but she didn't like the sound of it being maintenance. “If that’s the case then I may go for something darker.”

“Hey don't let what I said alone be the deciding factor and I do know some methods of getting it clean.” Jessica helpfully offered. But Charlie just shook her head and pulled the white coat off, setting it back onto its hanger.

“Eh, it sounds like it'd be more trouble than it’s worth.” She walked the coat back over to the rack it’d been pulled from. She glanced back over to where she’d laid the coat she’d worn along with another that she’d already decided to buy. That one had been a nice shade of green she’d really enjoyed.

"Maybe I ought to just get another green one," she thought aloud. Jessica looked up at her, already to object and with a counter-argument.

"I mean if you want to, sure. But not everything goes with green, and some days you might want to mix it up."

Immediately, Charlie began trying to think of her own counter but couldn't come up with anything. She sighed with an inaudible grumble before turning towards the other racks.

“Where’s that blue one we saw a while ago?” ” She slightly rolled her eyes upon glancing back and seeing Jessica’s victorious smirk. But said nothing as the taller girl strolled past her.

“Right here.” Jessica pulled the coat from the rack and thrust it into Charlie’s hands. She then spun Charlie back around, lightly pushing her back towards the mirrors.

“Go and try it on already, I’m getting cold just looking at you.” Charlie laughed humorlessly and walked back over to the mirrors. She unzipped the coat and slipped it on, noticing it was nearly identical to the white coat she’d discarded in all but color. She didn’t even bother checking the tag to see if it was made by the same company. But there was one thing that put it over the white one, an extremely soft interior that felt like she was wearing a blanket. She smiled while zipping up the coat and doing a little spin. She looked back to Jessica while flashing a teasing grin.

“Got anything bad to say about blue?” She asked.

“No, it looks very good on you actually, if you like it then go for it.”

“Then I think I will, it feels almost as nice as a hug,” Charlie said while nestling herself further into the jacket.

“Don’t get too comfy, they’re not just going to let you walk out wearing it.” Jessica reminded gently. Charlie slumped down her shoulders with a playful pout on her face.

“Are you sure? It’s so soft and comfy.” She pouted, barely finishing the sentence before breaking into a laugh.

“Trust me, I’ve tried.” Jessica laughed. “But the sooner John gets back from his hat hunting, the sooner you’ll be able to buy it.”

“Speak of the devil and he shall appear,” John called out, then followed it up with an impressed whistle. Both girls turned to face him as he walked back into the little store area, holding out a white hat with a little furball on top towards Charlie. Charlie perked herself up and pulled down the collar.

“You’re not exactly what I’d call a devil.” She teased while stepping over to him and then lovingly tousling his hair. “Actually I’d say you’re the exact opposite.” The comment made John flushed and Charlie took her hat from his hand.

“You got a hat for yourself too right?” She asked, a little worried that he may have neglected himself. But that fear was quelled as he held up a couple of hats in various shades of blue and gray.

“I got hats for...almost everyone since Jessica didn’t ask.”

“Nor do I need one, I have some at home and tonight’s about keeping you two alive when it snows,” Jessica said while snatching up the hat and then placing it over Charlie's head. Once it was nice and snug Jessica stepped back, while Charlie turned back to the mirror took herself over again.

“I like it.” She said before starting to remove the winter ensemble. “You think we need more stuff, Jess?”

“Not really unless you two need matching mittens for when you two hold hands.” Jessica jokingly said while slightly leaning against a mirror.

John looked at her thoughtfully and rubbed his chin. “That’s not a _bad_ idea…”

“Don’t give him any more ideas please!” Charlie pleaded, though mostly as a joke as she pulled her arm from the sleeves. Unknowingly hiking up her left shirt sleeve in the process, which exposed a four-inch-long scar on the upper arm. One of a few physical memories of how dangerous her father’s creations had turned out to be. Unfortunately, because she’d waited too long to get stitches, the scar had started healing over and consequently would never fade.

It was a permanent reminder that John knew she hated being brought up, mainly because they would always ask questions she wasn’t able or ready to answer.so Upon spotting the exposed, he made a little noise to get Charlie’s attention. It worked as she looked up and followed his discreet gestures towards her arm. Her eyes widened for a second before she pulled her shirt sleeve back down and then gave John a knowing smile that he returned.

Thanks.” She whispered before resuming fiddling with the coat and removing her hat. John began to step away and gather up their other merchandise when he heard the sound of quick-paced footsteps coming towards them.

He looked up and stumbled in surprise as Arty brushed past Jessica and began moving over towards Charlie. John then stepped back to place himself between Charlie and Arty, who stopped short of running into John with an angry glare.

Charlie turned and jumped when she saw what was going on. “Arty? What are you doing here?” She drew away seeing the angry look on his face, that quickly morphed into a rather smug look with a crooked smile.

“Whatcha trying to hide there John?” He asked with a voice now devoid of the friendliness he’d displayed back at the restaurant. Now it was becoming clouded over with anger as he peered around John to look at Charlie.

“Nothing that you need to see.” Charlie reached out and held her arm, squeezing her hand around. “Did...did you follow us here from the restaurant?”

Her suspicions were confirmed when Arty tried to ignore the question by glancing first at his feet and then off to the side. Charlie felt her jaw drop and looked at her friends, who both now giving Arty disdainful looks.

“You actually followed us,” Charlie said in disbelief and became a bit angry as Arty guilty met her gaze. "I can't believe this, why did you think this was okay?"

“That’s not important right now Charlotte, I’m here to help you.” He reached out to try and pull her away from John but she stepped further back from him.

“Thanks but your help isn’t needed or even wanted.”

"Yes it is needed, I need to get you away from him!" Art protested, reaching for Charlie again before suddenly being pulled away by Jessica who then put herself between them all. After stumbling back, Arty moved forward but Jessica held out a hand into his face. He stared upwards at her, his rage-filled face diminishing due to Jessica’s intimidating stature and her own look of anger.

“Alright we’re done playing nice with you, so either you walk away or security’s getting called to drag you away.” Jessica leaned in closely to Arty who fell briefly silent before plucking up the courage to speak again.

“Don’t call security on me, call it on that abusive deadbeat over there!” He pointed past Jessica and at John who became more than a little insulted as well as further confused.

“I’m sorry, what?” He said in unison with Charlie. However, their confusion only resulted in Arty becoming more belligerent.

“When I talked to Charlotte she said you were a good writer but that must be a lie since you’re unpublished!” His tone became more disapproving then angry as he continued. “Then you tell me at the bathrooms that Charlotte's doing all the work while you partied it up at college. Then I saw him ordering her to cover up that scar that he probably gave to her." There was a brief moment of shocked silence because none of them knew how to respond to Arty’s insane claims. It was only broken when Arty continued speaking again. 

"It's no wonder she barely talks to anyone at work, she's probably terrified he'll do something even worse if she goes for help!" He swung around to look at Jessica with a scowl. "It's kinda funny, I thought girls were supposed to help each other. Not stand by and watch this kinda crap happen." 

A pin could be heard dropping in the silence that followed. Charlie and John both stood together in horrified shock. Neither knowing what to even do. But Jessica said as inhaled sharply and striated herself to be as tall as possible. “You know what, I’ve heard enough out of you, so I’m giving you ten seconds before I call security kid, maybe even the police if you don’t get out now and leave all us alone.” She advanced towards Arty and he started backing away from her the closer she got. All the while Jessica continued talking in an almost serene tone.

“Not only are your claims bullshit, but you don’t have anything to back them up outside of your imagination,” She tapped Arty’s forehead with her finger, causing him to jump back “, and Charlie is a pretty tough girl so if John really was acting that way don’t you think she’d have dumped him already?"

“I-I guess, but what about the scar?” Arty stammered in a last-ditch effort to prove his point. “I saw him order her to cover it up!”

“That’s not any of your business,” Jessia said, before spinning Arty around and pointed towards the door. “Now how about you scamper on back to your cousin and we won’t have to get anyone else involved.”A slight edge crept into Jessica’s voice at the end of the sentence, which caused Arty to bolt away from her and out of the store.

Without bothering to look back, Arty kept running until he was out of sight. As soon as he left Jessica stood up straight and walked back over to her friends. Both of them stared at her in shock.

“Well, that takes care of him then.” She said while wiping her hands. “I can’t believe that little creep followed us like that.”

“Neither can I just..I’m so sorry you had to deal with him,” Charlie said apologetically while John rubbed her back, still too stunned to say anything. While she was impressed with her friend's handling of the situation she felt guilty that Jessica had to step in for her.

“Don’t worry about it,” Jessica said while brushing back her hair to help calm her temper. “I’ve had to deal with worse creeps than him just going to high school.”

However much she tried to downplay it though, the entire group was more than a little rattled by the whole event. quickly and quietly they gathered up everything and leave as soon as possible. Just in case Arty hadn’t been as intimidated as they thought. The whole thing had made Charlie more than a little angry as Arty had gone far beyond just being a minor workplace nuisance. She felt sickened that his interest may have become an obsession. 

Even with Jessica telling him off, she knew he would only get worse and there was no way Jessica could solve any further problems with him. This was hers to deal with, he was her coworker after all. As they walked to the front of the store, Charlie thought long about her options. He hadn’t done anything to warrant a police call and she had a feeling his parents would probably defend him.

But...there was one person she might be able to go to who’d at least be willing to maybe at least help her put a little distance between them. But it was something she’d have to save until they got home.  
\--------

_‘I can’t believe I forgot why this town was called Hurricane.’_ Carlton shivered but carried on in spite of the harsh winds. Slinking through the streets of Hurricane at night was already a challenge, but he’d forgotten about the winds that the town had been named after because they blew stronger in the fall and slowed down his already long journey. It was a trek in and of itself to get to the mall site on foot, but the wind seemed intent on pushing him all the way back home.

_‘You can’t give up now.’_ He reminded himself, which gave him a little extra push to keep moving. He couldn't give in now. When he and the others had been using Charlie and Marla’s cars, the ride to Freddy’s had been barely twenty minutes. But on foot, while also trying to stay out of sight in a furious wind was a different scenario. Especially with his bag slung over his shoulder.

It seemed to be only by pure luck that he wasn’t spotted as he walked through the town center. But that had been the easiest part as the buildings became more and more sparse the blowing wind became harsher. He’d lost track of how much time he’d spent on his journey but once he saw the unpaved turn-off, he knew it was almost over as he turned down the driveway. Passing by some set-aside police barriers that had been put up after his experience the year prior.

_‘Odd that they’d be taken down, but it wouldn't surprise me if someone else moved them.’_ He smirked, recalling all the times he’d told his dad that signs and barriers weren’t any good. What good was something that could be easily tossed aside if someone was strong enough?

Another fierce gust rattled Carlton when he saw the looming, skeletal remains of the mall ahead. Though it could also have been a shiver from the now resurfacing memories. The mall stood looming and imposing as it had when he’d first seen it. A cold and lifeless structure, that was more of a tomb than anything else.

Though there was something different about it this time. While he couldn't exactly place it, Carlton could feel something different in the air beside his own fears.

He glanced down and stopped in his tracks upon seeing the deep tread marks. Recently made by something bigger than a car and he quickly scanned the area with his eyes. Despite the darkness, he could make out two trucks like the one he’d seen earlier in the day in his aunt's car. They stood alone like silent sentinels, watching over the mall and its contents. He looked around hurriedly, before dashing over to the pile of sediment that had made up their entrance the year prior.

_‘Oh thank goodness it’s still here.’_ He ran up the pile and up to one of the holes where a window would have been. Stopping himself before the drop and took a deep calming breath to steady himself,

For a moment Carlton stood alone and silent, in the back of his mind there was a tugging. An urge to just turn around and go back home before his absence was noticed. But then another voice took over, Michael’s voice begging him to continue onward.

“Now or never.” He whispered before kneeling down and dropping into the mall.


	10. Chapter 10

The impact of hitting the floor gave Carlton a powerful jolt to his entire body. He was thankful that it hadn’t hurt him, but it wasn’t any less jarring. Especially with his bag throwing him a little off balance and almost knocking him over during the landing.

After standing up straight he took a moment to take in his surroundings while recovering from the fall. The wind still continued to blow in a raging torrent outside, and without any ways of which to keep out the elements, it passed through the shell of the mall which turned it into an almost mournful howl.

To Carlton, it was almost as though the mall could sense his intent and was protesting his intrusion. Attempting to use the howling wind as a warning cry for him to turn around and leave before he could meet some ghastly fate. But Carlton wasn’t going to back down, not now

He reached into his bag and scrambled around for the flashlight. Once he retrieved it he snapped it on and shone the bean around the empty mall space. Abounded before it’s time like a stillborn child. His mind flipped back to the year prior and he tried to recall the exact memories of where the entrance of the old Freddy’s had been. The concussion combined with everything else had pushed it from his mind and he didn’t have time to just wander around for hours till he found it. For a moment he got caught up within his own memories of not only the year prior but all his time spent at Freddy’s.

But after a minute or two of silently reminiscing, he refocused himself and began to walk through the deserted shell. The echoing of his footsteps was drowned out by the wind, which did little to relieve his stress.. While it would mean that anyone guarding the mall wouldn't hear him that also meant he wouldn’t hear them if he was spotted.

In an extra effort to stay stealthy, he kept his flashlight pointed towards the ground. So the wandering beam wouldn't catch the attention of anyone else. It was because of this maneuver however that he caught onto the fact that there was a lot of rubble and dust lying around.

It wasn’t the kind of dust one might have expected it, the kind that that would have accrued from the years of abandonment. No what Carlton found instead was an expanse of concrete dust and sprinkled amongst it were large chunks of broken concrete. It was like pieces of dead skin coming off a giant corpse. Carlton picked up one of them and turned it over in his hands before setting it back down.

_‘Looks like someone’s been doing work here...great.’_

He continued on, stepping over some of the larger chunks until he stepped into a larger area that had piles of broken concrete chunks scattered about. Some were neater while others looked more haphazardly constructed.

He did a quick scan of his flashlight and felt his stomach lurch as though he was on a roller coaster when he saw not modern concrete, but a wall composed of old bricks. He stepped away and quickly moved his flashlight beam along with the brick covered wall.

For the first time in years, Freddy Fazbear’s stood exposed to the outer world. The storefront that he and his friends had entered was completely gutted and the alleyway leading to the back doors was also torn open. The walls around it pulled down to make it wider as well. It was like an operation that the doctors abandoned midway through, leaving behind gaping raw wounds.

With trembling steps, Carlton walked towards the now widened entrance to Freddy’s and saw that there were several flat carts near the brick wall. They were stacked with the old folding chairs, tables, and even a few of the tablecloths which sat neatly folded in a box.

“They’re… clearing it out.” He whispered and turned his slow steps into a frenzied jog over to the doors. Throwing any and all caution into the roaring wind outside, Carlton stepped race down the hall and through the now propped open doors before freezing mid-step.

Freddy Fazbear’s was ruined.

The halls once lined with thousands of children’s drawings were now stripped completely bare. The lights and decorations that had illuminated been placed alongside the drawings had also been pulled down. All that remained were a few frayed, decaying wires and small remnants of torn paper.

While weaving his beam around, Carlton spotted a large work light standing to his left, the cord extending off into the darkness like a giant snake. Silently crossing the hallway, he fumbled his hands around the back of the light before finding the switch. With an echoing ‘snap’ the light turned on and shone a powerful beam that pierced the almost consuming darkness.

No longer needing the flashlight, Carlton turned it off before slipped it back into his bag and pressed forward through the now barren halls. But it wasn’t long before he came into what had been the main dining room. Now devoid of all the tables and chairs, it was just a large expanse of checkered tiles stretching away into the black infinitude. With the work light’s beam unable to fully stretch out and pierce it

Using the little light they had left from it, Carlton anxiously scrambled around the room and tried to stay quiet as more memories came back. Both negative and positive colliding as he stopped himself from reaching back for the flashlight.

_‘They might be gone too, but stay quiet just in case.’_

He moved back and pressing up against the wall then he began to slowly creep along with it. Even while looking for the next light, he always kept a wary eye in the direction of the stage. On edge and waiting to see the lights of glowing eyes that were accompanied by the stomping of cloth-covered metallic feet.

But it never came, even as he found the next light and turned it on with another loud ‘snap’. Nothing came lurching out from the darkness to attack him and the only sound was the now distant echo of the roaring wind. It was only as he adjusted the work light and turned it towards the stage did he discover why nothing had come for him.

“They’re gone,” Carlton whispered with eyes glued on the empty stage.

Where there once stood three animal mascots, now held nothing more than dust. The trapdoor beneath the stage was flung open and a quick glance told Carlton it was as bare as the stage above it. As his blood turned into ice, Carlton slowly approached the stage while quickly whipping his head at the other hallways.

The last thing he needed was for Bonnie or Freddy to come jumping out from some side room. It seemed to take forever to cross the room, but when he reached the stage his suspicions were confirmed. The nuts and bolts scattered about next to several large toolboxes told him everything. But that provided him little comfort as he looked down at his feet.

“Alright Michael, what now?” He whispered into the darkness, heart heavy with the worry he’d come too late. But it took only a moment for him to get a reply as the faint and familiar voice of his friend called out to him. He looked up and around the room once again until he locked eyes with those of the yellow bear. While it had previously looked lifeless, it now stood tall in one of the adjacent hallways.

In the time it took Carlton blink, the bear had yet again vanished from his direct line of sight. But the voice within his head still called and pushed him onward. He readjusted his bag and pulled out the flashlight before breaking into a run down the hallway as a sense of urgency and excitement beginning to well up from within him.

The voice of Michael continued to push him onward as though he was running alongside him again while hyping up something cool he’d discovered. He encouraged Carlton to keep going and Carlton pressed on further down the hallway, without the signs it was almost impossible to tell which hallway went where. But he knew this hallway well due to all the times that he’d hidden beneath every time he’d had to leave Freddy’s as a child.

“Pirate Cove fifty paces ahead.” He whispered while remembering a little phrase some of the employees would say when they lead parties back to the cove.

He burst into the cove and found that it was as barren as the main dining room. Everything from the tables to the spinning pizza decorations on the wall had been removed. But the only thing Carlton worried about was the stage. He turned his flashlight towards it and was not even surprised when he saw that Foxy’s purple curtains were missing along with Foxy himself. Not that there was much for him to stand on. The stage floor had been completely torn open, revealing something else occupying the departed pirate’s space.

A worn, yellow rabbit with stains along the eyes, mouth, and neckline with its arms held out in the air and attached to a couple of shop cranes. The rabbits lower body still concealed beneath the floor which made almost looked like some sort of zombie emerging from a crypt. Casting its half-open eyes down upon Carlton that were dead and yet still contained a malicious sense of life behind them

Carlton froze up as the flashlight fell from his fingers and clattering to the ground. It flickered for only a moment before the steady beam returned. He quickly bent to snatch it up and focused the beam back onto the rabbit. Not wishing for it to leave his sight lest it also come to life and take the opportunity to attack him. Carlton’s confusion quickly gave way to a realization as his mind yet again replayed the last time he’d seen the suit. When Charlie had triggered those mechanisms he couldn't quite recall the name of and killed “Dave” in his own suit. After he’d perished, the animatronics had dragged him away… down the very hallway, he’d just come.

_‘It’s him… there must have been a trapdoor underneath the cove that they dropped him into!’_ Michel’s voice suddenly returned to him, the whispers now becoming frantically urgent.  
What he was planning to do need to be done now or never and he kept his eyes locked firmly on the suit, Carlton while striding over to the stage. The rabbit that had kidnapped him, or rather the man inside the suit had bled into each other in his memory. There wasn’t one without the other anymore. But he knew only one way to describe it, a monster.

There was only the rabbit and the evil that lurked beneath its fake fur that prevented his friend from moving on. Ascending the little staircase up to the cove’s stage, he set his bag down at the edge of the hole before stared hard at the suit.

While taking it he saw the yellow bear out of the corner of his eye. The bear remained still, but the voice of his friend was clear. Without any hesitation, Carlton knelt down and unzipped the bag. He used his flashlight to look in and had just seized onto the fire starting kit when a voice called from the hallway.

“Carlton!”

The kit dropped back into the bag, which Carlton then shoved into the hole from which the suit was emerging. It vanished into the darkness and hit the floor beneath the stage with a sharp _‘thud’_.He turned his beam back towards the hallway as Clay rushed into Pirate Cove. His own flashlight meeting Carlton’s as he sighed in relief. Carlton meanwhile tensed up as his Dad’s beam flickered across him and to the suit.  
Whatever Clay wanted to say dried up in his mouth, eyes transfixed upon the suit while Carlton stepped off the stage.

“Hey Dad,” Carlton greeted in a mockingly jovial tone. Overcoming his shock, Clay turned back towards his son with a serious expression.

“You’re not supposed to be out here Carlton, this is trespassing.” Carlton narrowed his eyes at the harsh but evasive tone in Clay’s voice. He decided then to skip any formalities or beating around the bush.

“Did you know anything about this?” There was fumbling for words as Clay struggled to answer Carlton, struck by the sudden bluntness.

“Carlton, we’ll talk about this when we’re back home.” He reached for his son’s arm but Carlton jerked away from him.

“No, I want to hear it now.” He gestured to the room. “This doesn't look like the favor you said you’d call in unless that also involved them getting to take whatever they wanted.”

“I wasn’t able to call in that favor, whatever happens to Freddy’s isn’t up to me or anyone except the owners.”

“You’re telling me that Charlie’s aunt ordered all of this?”Carlton shouted, turning the flashlight beam back towards the suit. Clay glanced up towards it and then back to Carlton.

“Jen isn’t the one calling the shots here but that’s none of your business. We can talk about this later right now I’m taking you home..” Clay again reached for his arm. He was quicker this time and grabbed hold of it. Carlton responded by shining his flashlight into his dad’s eyes, forcing him to remove his arm from Carlton’s and cover his eyes.

Clay rubbed at them while Carlton took a few steps back and let out a laugh.  
“You know, if you weren’t grounded before you are now,” Clay said while rubbed at his eyes with a scowl

“I’m an adult and I don’t live with you anymore.” Carlton crossed his arms and firmly planted his feet. Clay stared at his son before letting out one more sigh and reaching onto his belt.

“You are an adult and that means you’re trespassing.” He pulled out a set of handcuffs, causing Carlton’s eyes to widen. “I’m going to give you one last chance son; otherwise I’ll drag you out like I do the other criminals.” A shocked silence was all that greeted Clay in response to his threat. Carlton stared at his dad with his mouth agape, struggling to find his words.

“So that’s it then? You’d rather arrest me than actually give me some kind of answer? Not even a damn excuse?”

But by the time he’d found what to say, Clay had taken the opportunity and grabbed Carlton to pull him back through the hallway. The sudden touch snapped Carlton back to the situation as he shoved Clay away from him.  
Clay stumbled back only a couple feet before he lunged at Carlton. The younger Burke threw a sudden punch, not meant to hit his father but intent meant little in the heat of the moment as Clay dodged before then grabbing onto Carlton’s shoulder.

Once he had a firm grip, Clay twisted Carlton around and pinned his arm against his back. Carlton thrashed about before raising his foot and shooting it back towards his dad’s knee. Clay yelled in pain as pain shot through his knee, causing him to start falling forward.

Whatever victory Carlton may have enjoyed was short-lived as he realized he’d be pinned by his father falling atop him. Thinking quickly, Clay shoved Carlton forward though it provided no comfort for Carlton as he spun around and slammed his back and shoulder into the floor.

He felt the air rush from his lungs and he started gasping for air while trying to move back towards the stage before Clay was able to recover from his own fall. But Clay was faster than him and before Carlton could move any further, Clay had gotten back up on was on him. His knee was pressed into the crook of Carlton’s back, pinning him to the ground while Clay seized his arms to began handcuffing him.

“We’ll discuss this with your mom later and maybe she can convince me not to take you to jail for assaulting an officer.”  
Carlton was unable to say or even do anything besides look away and wheeze as his father hauled him back to his feet. With a harsh shove, Clay made him begin a walk back through the Pizzeria.

All that Carlton could manage to do was hang his head low in disgrace as he was marched out. He looked back to the cove and caught a glimpse of Michael’s suit again. It’s eyes blank and hollow as though it was just as disappointed in him as Clay was

‘ _I’m so sorry, Michael.’_ Carlton thought as he allowed himself to be led away under the gaze of his father and that of the yellow rabbit. The suit had watched the entire altercation with its expression unchanged as if the events taking place before him were but a trifle.

But as he took another glance behind him, Carlton could swear he saw the rabbit's smile grow just a little wider like it was reveling in his misery and failure to destroy it. A mocking final gesture as the cove became empty and silence once more descended upon the halls of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria.  
\-----------  
“So yeah, I wasn't sure if I had enough to call the Police or not so I figured this was my best option,” Charlie said while once more spinning the phone cord around her fingers in another loop. She’d been on the phone for twenty minutes now explaining the night's events to Jeremy and Rebecca. What initial reluctance she’d had in calling them had burned away the more she thought about what Arty had done.

Although it hadn’t been asked by John or Jessica, she knew they were all thinking the same question in their heads. About how far Arty might go after tonight, now that he assumed Charlie was ‘trapped.’ After waiting for both of her friends to fall asleep, she’d made the call; trying to stay as quiet as possible with Jessica seemingly asleep on the couch nearby.

“Well, there’s not a whole lot we can do ourselves, Charlie,” Jeremy said after a long pause. “Truth is because it happened off our property I cannot punish him in any legal way unless he does something on the clock and on-premises.” Charlie felt her heart sink a little before he spoke again.

“However the safety of my employees and customers is my top priority, if he’s going to be a risk like this then I will do my absolute best to keep you both separated.” Charlie smiled and squeezed the phone just a bit harder, quietly sighing in relief.

“Now this won’t cover much if he does something off the clock or off the property like tonight, but I’ll make an official record so you’ll have it if the police do have to get involved.”

“Thank you,” Charlie whispered in reply while she listened to Jeremy write something down.

“Take care of yourself and try to enjoy the rest of your weekend Charlie, I’ll handle it from here and see you on Tuesday alright?”

“Yeah, thank you again.”

“It’s not a problem, good night.” Charlie waited for the phone to click before hanging up and rising from her seat in the kitchen to start back towards the bedroom. Desperate for a decent rest after the roller coaster of a night she’d had.

While covering her mouth to stifle a yawn, Jessica sat up from the couch, flashing a reassuring grin.

“So I take it the talk with your boss went well?” Charlie jumped and whipped around with a half crossed expression.

“It’s rude to eavesdrop you know.” She said through another yawn while Jessica pulled her knees closer to her chest.

“Don’t you know that it's just as rude to keep someone from their beauty sleep?”

“Touché, though you could probably beat all of us in a beauty contest without even trying. But yeah it did he’s going to try and keep Arty away from me...thanks again for dealing with him.”

“Eh no problem, he thinks he’s all high and mighty now but it’ll come crashing down on him soon enough. It’s best to just let it slide for now and try to enjoy the rest of the weekend.”.” She turned back to lay down and

began to stifle a yawn of her own.

“After all, tomorrow is another day.” With that, Jessica rolled back over to try and sleep while Charlie continued her walk back to her room.

“Yeah, hopefully, it’ll be better.” She whispered as she entered and repeated it under her breath. Hoping that Jessica was right and that with her call to Jeremy things in her life would finally calm back down.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight Trigger warning for yelling and really intense situations that involve throwing things.

“So instead of talking to him you just threw him around like a criminal!?”

Carlton winced before attempting to bury his head deeper into the couch pillow. He was beginning to long for the disappointed silence that he'd gotten from Clay on the ride home He had prepared for some yelling and scolding from his other family members but that sort of thing he was able to handle. After Dunn’s death, it had happened almost daily if things got heated enough during school. But he hadn’t been prepared at all for what happened when Clay marched him into the house.

Obviously neither his mother nor aunt had been happy, but surprisingly most of their anger wasn’t directed at Carlton but towards Clay. Their anger further increasing that would only increase when they took a look at his rather battered state. While he hadn’t seen them at first, he soon discovered that he was sporting multiple bruises from the little “scuffle,” in Pirates Cove.

The sight of them had set off a three-way argument, or rather two ways as the two women ganged up on Clay. Cynthia, more than a little happy to ream Clay while snacking away his keys to unlock the cuffs. Clay had quickly decided that fighting Cynthia would be a losing battle, so he instead focused on appealing to his wife.

“He threw the first punch, what else do you think I’d do in that kind of situation?”

“Oh I don’t know; maybe try talking to him instead of going all cowboy cop?” Betty called while walking over to the couch with an ice pack cradled in her hands. “He’s your son, not some thug on the street trying to hold up a store.” She pressed the ice pack against the more severe of the bruises and elicited a yelp from her son. The yelp earned him a sympathetically stern look before she spun around and the look became a harsh glare.

“I can’t believe you did this to him and I think the worst part is that you knew something like this might happen. You knew he might go back to Freddy’s yet you still pushed for him to come back.”

“It’s hardly my fault that Rick’s taking his sweet time clearing out the mall.” Clay commented gruffly.

“No, but you know what? He didn’t need to come back for my birthday, especially if you knew Rick was taking longer.” Betty fired back, storming over to Clay before jabbing her finger into his chest. “You thought it would be fine, is what you would be saying if Carlton got hurt in there beyond your little takedown? Even if Freddy’s was cleared out that mall is a deathtrap!” Clay backed nervously away before raising his hands in an attempt to calm her nerves. 

“Look, he assured me it would be all done but I guess he found more things that were salvageable then he originally thought. I thought Carlton might go into the mall but I didn’t think Rick would be careless enough to leave the entrances open.”

“Oh yeah, yeah that’s really nice Clay. But you wanna know something interesting? You could have also gone and done it yourself!” Betty shouted back, causing Clay and Carlton to jump a little. She jabbed the finger in harder and pushed Clay further away from Carlton “If you’d done a little more then throw up a few pathetic pieces of wood, then we wouldn’t even be having this discussion!”

“This isn’t a discussion Betty; it’s just you screaming at me.”

“Well, maybe you need a good telling off once in a while!”

Carlton buried his face grown in the pillow to try and drown out the argument as it rabbit trailed away from the initial topic. The guilt gnawing within him for failing Michael was bad enough, but listening to his parents argue about every little thing was making it even worse. He squeezed his eyes and attempted to drone out the shouting with his own thoughts. But it did little to distract him as his own thoughts were clouded over with painful guilt.

It was too much, all of it. The guilt, the anger, it was all too much. But as he moved to push his face into further into the couch arm, he felt a friendly yet firm hand tussle his hair. A mixture of as sigh and a withheld sob escaped his lips as he looked up to find his aunt smiling sadly at him. She glanced at her sister and brother law with trepidation and stroked her nephew’s hair a little. Maybe it was to comfort Carlton, or just as likely to keep herself calm enough to not join the fight again. 

“Be honest auntie, I've really screwed up this time haven't I?” Carlton grumbled, keeping his voice lowered but loud enough for Cynthia to hear.

“Well, yes and no. Going back to Freddy’s was a pretty boneheaded idea, but I’m also not a fan of my nephew being hurled about like a football,” She snapped her head back towards Clay with a dark glare. “, especially by your own father.” The last part was said louder than the rest of her sentence, almost drowning out the ongoing argument. Upon hearing the remark Clay turned towards Cynthia and threw up his arms.

“So what do you all want me to do then? Coddle and let him get away with crimes like you do?” Although it wasn’t directly said, Carlton could almost feel Clay wanting to say _“I raised you better than this.”_

“Well you know that it wouldn't be the first time you let someone get away with a crime related to Freddy’s,” Betty muttered while looking away from him with a scowl. Clay’s face twisted in rage as he snapped full attention back on Betty. The sudden angry look, along with his body language caused Cynthia and Carlton to start rising to their feet.

”Care to repeat that, _dear?_ ” Clay asked, with a low, venomous tone.

“Oh no, I think you heard me well enough the first time. But since you need the reminder I’ll tell you something that quite frankly I expected you to know already.” Betty sauntered over to her husband and rose up on her toes to look Clay directly in the eyes.

“Just because circumstantial evidence isn’t airtight, doesn’t mean you can’t get convection out of it. You’ve gone on and on about protecting the kids after what happened last year, but the truth is that’s very cold comfort when you should have stopped William before Charlie lost her father! Before our son lost his best friend and was left traumatized by your inaction!”

The entirety of the house fell silent, save for the sounds of Clay’s, deep, angry breathing as the whole of his face went red. The only other sound was the ticking of a nearby clock, intermixing with Clay’s heavy breathing. For the first time in years, Carlton began to quietly pray that his dad wouldn't get physical. He’d never hurt him or his mom before, but tonight his temper was being pushed well beyond his limits.

A tense moment passed before Clay began to look around the room and took notice of the collective fear and anger everyone was displaying. He then suddenly loosed his eyes and took a very deep breath. The action taking Betty, Cynthia, and Carlton off their guards, especially as Clay then raised his hands and turned to leave.

“I think it might be for the best if this conversation is continued after we’re cooled down with a decent night’s rest.” He forced a smile that wasn’t returned by anybody else, least of all Betty. She crossed her arms and continued to glare at him.

“You do that Clay, I’m going to spend some more time with my son.” She said, with voice colder than frozen steel. She said with all of the malice she was able to muster.

Though it was clear to everyone that Clay wanted to respond to her comment, he ultimately held his tongue and he started to make his way towards the stairs. His gaze moving from his wife to his son, with a nervous smile that wasn’t returned. Carlton was grateful his dad was trying to deescalate everything, but the whole situation was still burning him up inside.

Clay turned away from them all without a second glance before slowly disappearing up the stairs. Almost as soon as he was gone, Betty walked over to Carlton and gently pushed him back to the couch.

“Sweetie, you need to keep those ice packs on.” She picked up the pack and sat down next to him as if the argument hadn’t happened. Before he was able to say anything, she pressed the ice pack a little harshly into his bruises. Even as he jumped from the suddenness, Carlton tried to remain calm. Even though he could see the hurt and pain in his mother’s eyes. Something that broke his heart more than failing Michael already had and it slipped through despite his attempt to hide it. His mom sighed sadly before dropping her arm from his back, the ice pack falling down to the couch.

“Carlton..I’m so sorry you had to see that.” Betty’s voice cracking from the mixture of sadness and anger still dwelling within her. Her fists tightening up while her eyes began misting up with tears. “You shouldn’t have had to see that.” 

“I shouldn’t have been dumb enough to go back…” Carlton looked down at his feet, the gnawing guilt now eating away at him like a pack of ravenous termites. 

“I don’t think it’s your fault sweetie. I knew this whole thing was a bad idea but I let him talk me into it.” Betty shook, more than a little enraged before sighing. Cynthia walked behind the two, moving her hands to rub at their shoulders. She leaned down and looked sympathetically at her nephew before reaching out to pull her sister back onto her feet. 

“You’ll be fine on your own a bit, right?” She asked him, to which Carlton silently nodded. “Good.”

Cynthia half-hugged her sister and began to guide her over towards the kitchen. Whispering something to her that Carlton didn’t even try to hear, he wanted to block it out. Block out everything aside from his thoughts.

As soon as his mom and aunt were gone, he laid fully down again. Shoving the icepack off onto the floor and clasped his hands over his eyes. Once he was certain no one could see, he let the tears begin to flow as he began repeating two words on an endless loop. Hoping that somehow, they would be heard and accepted by whoever might hear him. Be they his parents, aunt, or even Michael.

“I’m sorry.”

He repeated the words until the tiredness finally won over and sleep took hold of his body. Allowing him to finally drift off to somewhere where he could escape the pain. A place that was far away from the pain of his failure.  
\-------  
Once things had calmed down from their run-in with Arty, the weekend with Jessica had gone on without any further problems. But it had gone by too quickly and before anyone realized, it was time for Jessica to head home. The departure was bittersweet for them all, also rather comforting to Charlie. After all the years apart, it felt good to have at least a few of her friends close enough for a visit.

But perhaps the best thing had been Jeremy sticking to his word regarding separating her and Arty. In the two days that she’d been back to work she hadn’t seen any sign of Arty at all. Although she didn’t know what had been done to ensure he stayed away, she ultimately didn’t want to press the issue further.

Especially since Jeremy had become impressed with the speed and care demonstrated while covering Kevin’s work and had made restocking the shelves one of her main duties at the store. She didn’t mind the work, although she could do without having to wake up early and go in early like she was back in school.

If Charlie didn’t know any better, she’d say that having employees come in so early was an effort to drive up the store’s coffee sales. Course it might have also been her own tiredness talking, not helped by the fact she was currently stocking up the food aisle.

The lack of a meaningful breakfast wasn’t doing much to help her out. However, a quick check of her watch revealed that she only had another half hour left. With that little bit of helpful motivation, Charlie straightened herself up to begin stocking up the snack aisle.

Once she’d gotten down a good rhythm in her head, Charlie began humming to herself. It was a good if simple means of staying distracted during the monotonous hours of stocking. Part of her wished she had something like a walkman to help in shutting out the world around her and just focus on the task. But Jeremy made it clear they weren’t allowed while on the clock

Still, Charlie didn’t mind it and besides, it was much cheaper than any music player. Though it did have a rather significant drawback, as the more focused on her task the less she noticed around her. Perhaps, had she been paying closer attention, she might have noticed it when Arty was walked directly up beside her before proceeding to loudly clear his throat. Cutting herself off mid hum, Charlie turned to face Arty while also masking her disappointment at his presence.

“Arty, can I help you something?” Charlie tried not to let her anger show but she was taken back as she realized Arty was doing the same. The young man’s face was a bright red despite him taking in a few deep breaths before he spoke.

“Hey Charlotte...can I ask you a question?” Charlie stepped back as Arty pulled a slip of paper from his pockets and thrust it in her direction. “Do you know anything about this? Fighting back the urge to reprimand him for using her full name again, Charlie hesitantly took the paper from him. Though she kept her eyes partially trained on Arty, who was still taking in deep breaths of air. While it may have been somewhat calming for him, it just made Charlie more unnerved than ever.

She unfolded the paper and started to quickly read it only to become even further confused than she already was. “I’m not entirely sure what you want me to do with your schedule.”

Breathing in again, Arty gestured to the times with an annoyed huff. “They’re completely changed from how they used to be a week ago and some of my hours have even been cut.”

“Alright, but again it’s not my problem if Jeremy suddenly changed it,” Charlie said before handing the paper back to Arty. But despite her nonchalance, she suspected that the schedule change had been Jeremy’s way to keep them apart.

“He’d tell me if he was going to change it like that.” Arty snatched the paper from Charlie and stuffed it back into his pocket. “But he hasn’t said anything to me since the week began.”

“I understand that it’s upsetting but don’t get why you're coming to me about it, I don’t make the schedules so why aren't you talking to Jeremy?” Charlie took a few steps back and positioned the cart in case she needed to block Arty from reaching her.

“Well I had a little thought about when my schedule changed and it all came back to you,” Arty said as his face and expression lowered. “Charlotte, did you tattle on me for trying to help you?” 

“Help me?” Charlie blurted before covering her mouth. Arty sneered and stomped his foot.

“I knew it! I go out of my way to try and help and the only ‘thanks’ i get is you screwing up my job!” He took a few steps forward and Charlie blocked him off using the cart. She then began backing up the cart and bit her tongue in an effort to keep from snapping at Arty as he continued to rant.

“How could you just throw it all back in my face? I exposed that abusive deadbeat and you not only side with him, but you also decided to screw up my life just because I wanted to help!” Arty’s scowl turned into a sad frown as he gestured towards himself as his voice turned into a sad warble. “All I wanted to do was help you Charlotte.”

The efforts taken to keep herself quiet were made futile as Charlie held up a hand, silencing Arty as she began to speak. “Your 'help’ wasn’t needed, _Arthur_ and my relationship with John isn’t your business. You jumped the gun with baseless assumptions that you think are true just because you saw something. But you never actually bothered to try and get my side of things.” Charlie pulled the cart out of Arty’s grip, causing him to stumble. As he got back to his feet, he took a deep breath before speaking again.

“Look Charlotte, I know admitting this sort of thing can be hard to admit-”

"There is nothing to admit! John has never once, in his life, hurt me or touched me when I didn't want him to. What you saw at the mall was him covering up something I don't even want to talk about with anyone, especially you.”  
“Oh that’s rich; you don’t want to talk about it. Of course, you don’t because that would shatter the little reality you’ve built up around your ‘amazing’ boyfriend.” Arty mockingly cooed and Charlie began to feel her blood boil over. “You’ve sunken so deep that you won’t admit it, so when someone comes along to try and help you push them aside to-” Arty was cut off as Charlie pushed aside the cart and got directly into his face.

"Listen here, Arthur. You know nothing of me, or John, or our history or what our relationship is like, and you don't need to know. Maybe next time, try to get the whole story before you jump to conclusions and make damn scenes!" Charlie snarled and although Arty backed away, he stood his ground and continued on.

"Oh, I'm making a scene? You're the one who had Mr. Fitzgerald screw up my hours because you can't see how terrible John is!"

"I didn't tell him to give you fewer hours, just that I didn't want to work with you." Charlie turned around and grabbed her cart, heading down the aisle. “I don’t want to be around you either so maybe it’d be best if you go do your work and leave me alone before you're worried about more than just a few cut hours.” 

Arty stared after Charlie, red in the face and getting angrier by the second. “Did you just threaten me?” He called, but Charlie gave no reply. Instead, she kept moving and tried to calm herself down. Unfortunately, that would be hard to do with Arty constantly yelling after her.

“Charlotte! You’d better not go back to Mr. Fitzgerald about this! Charlotte!” Oh, how Charlie wished she could cover her ears. But she had to keep moving the cart and began to power walk down the aisle to put as much distance between herself and Arty as she could.

“Charlotte!” Arty shouted. This time, he let out something akin to a growl before Charlie then heard the sound shuffling before Arty let out a small grunt. She didn’t worry about it until something hard hit her back. She shot forward, gasping aloud in pain before looking back to see what had hit her. What she found was a package of now broken cookies laying at her feet, then realized there was another coming right towards her head. Acting fast she ducked out of the way as it struck the cart, knocking a few products off and onto the floor.

She looked back and saw Arty reaching out for another box as his face became redder than before. Just as his hand grabbed the next package though, another hand grabbed hold of Arty’s arm. It closed tight and then spun him around, so he was face to face with a _furious_ Jeremy Fitzgerald.

“My office Arty. Now.” Charlie could only step back in shock at seeing Jeremy’s normally calm demeanor be replaced by an angry chili. Arty himself shook and pointed back towards Charlie.

“S-shouldn't you want us Charlie too sir? Both of us were arguing and- ?” Jeremy’s gaze hardened even further, the grip on Arty’s arm tightened as he pointed at the two boxes of cookies now spilled out on the floor.

“Charlie isn’t the one who decided to assault her co-worker with store products.” He turned around, pushing Arty so he was now in front of him. “My office.”

All Arty could bring himself to do was nod and start walking. Before he followed, Jeremy turned back to look at Charlie as his angry expression softened. He gazed down at the scattered products and then sighed.

“I’ll have someone else take care of this, can you wait for me in the break room?” He asked, to which Charlie nodded slowly before Jeremy walked off behind Arty.

But despite Jeremy’s assistance, the whole situation left Charlie with a terrible knot in her stomach, along with a minor pain in her back where the cookies had hit. Her eyes wandered across the products that had fallen off her cart and for a second she considered picking them up herself but then Jeremy’s voice came over the intercom.

“I need someone to head to the snack aisle for a clean up: I repeat the snack aisle for clean up.” With a crackle, the intercom fell silent and left Charlie asking herself, _‘How did he know what I was thinking?’_ while she walked back to the break room.

The whole walk back was filled with questions, doubts, and worries running through her head. Deep down, she was worried about being in just as much trouble as Arty. Considering that she hadn’t kept her own cool during their argument, something she mentally chastised herself for. But she kept reminding herself that Jeremy hadn’t seemed to be angry with her more than he was Arty. But that didn’t stop the worries from coming as she took a seat in the break room and began waiting.

Which to her surprise wasn’t a very long wait at all. Barely five minutes had passed since she sat down when Jeremy walked into the break room and sat down across from her. A sour expression on his face, that fell into a sympathetic one while taking his seat.

Charlie looked away from him and took in a deep breath. Their seating positions making it feel as though she was being interviewed all over again as Jeremy looked down at his hands and sighed. Half a minute passed before he looked back up at Charlie. “You won’t have to worry about Arty causing you any more trouble.”

“Are you moving his shifts again?” She quietly asked. To which Jeremy shook his head and solemnly explained further,

“He doesn't have any shifts now and he won’t be allowed in the store as a customer either.”

Charlie’s head snapped up, her jaw threatening to drop as the words left Jeremy’s mouth. “You fired him?”

“Yes,” Jeremy sighed. “With all his recent behavioral problems and considering his actions just now it was the only right choice to make."

“I see.” Charlie trailed off and looked away. Getting Arty fired wasn’t something she’d been hoping for but truthfully she was relieved that he’d no longer be around her. She looked back again as Jeremy continued speaking.

“I’m especially sorry I didn't notice his infatuation with you either, which Rebecca commented on. I had been planning to discuss it with him when his shift ended but when I saw him decide to start throwing things like a child, I felt more immediate action was necessary.” The room fell silent again as Jeremy leaned forward and placed his hands across his chin.

“Charlie, if you wish to clock out and take the next day off then I won’t say anything or dock your pay.” Charlie stared back in shock, taken back by Jeremy’s generosity. She thought about protesting it but the more she let it sink in and thought about it, the more sense it made.

“It probably would be for the best...” She said quietly and a half-smile formed on Jeremy’s face as he stood up.

“If you’d like I can clock you out.” He gestured towards the time cards and Charlie accepted before getting up and walking out of the break room and towards the front of the store. Rebecca gave an approving nod while watching Charlie leave and head for the car.

She didn’t know why though, but despite Jeremy’s generosity along with the relief knowing Arty would be off her back, she couldn't untangle the knots in her stomach. But perhaps that's why she’d taken up Jeremy’s offer. A day of rest wouldn't be too bad after everything that had happened and Charlie hoped that it would be more than enough to return things to normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so if you made it this far, I hoped you liked the story. For those wondering when some true FNAF style will comes bout, well let's just say we've hit the turning point from kinda slice of life stuff to the FNAF story I promised. 
> 
> I hope to see you all again next week. Till next time


	12. Chapter 12

A gentle yet moist breeze brushed up against Charlie’s face as she stepped outside of the apartment and pulled her already wound up scarf even tighter around her face. The breeze was carrying not only the cold air but also a few remnants of the rainstorm that passed through Brookhaven the night before. Delivering a somewhat fitting end to had been a dramatic day for her.

While there was a little bite to the wind, it wasn't enough to deter her from shutting the door and beginning a steady walk out of the complex. Her hands dug deep into her pockets as she walked onto the sidewalk and then down the street in the same direction that she’d driven to go pick up Jessica just a few days prior. Both her mind and heart in a tandem flutter of nerves, intermixed with a desire to just get outside and be alone.

It had been something she’d decided upon after only two hours of sitting in the apartment alone and trying to relax. But that had unfortunately proven to be a rather futile effort on her part. Once John had left, the apartment suddenly became a rather stuffy environment for her, as if she were a prisoner trapped in some darkened cell that was disguised as a home.

Although she couldn't figure out where it came from, the feeling prompted her desire for not only some fresh air but also to take an opportunity to become more familiar with the area. After making a note to John in case he was back before her, she’d slipped on some of the warm clothes that they’d just bought before heading out into the sunny yet chilled day.

Going for walks by herself was something that Charlie often did to clear her mind after she’d entered high school. With all of the stress and expectations placed upon her from seemingly everyone, they’d been not only needed but also very appreciated. Allowing herself a brief respite from the burdens of incoming adulthood. Although, ever since she’d moved to Brookhaven the walks had quickly diminished. Mostly due to her not knowing her way around the area, but that was something she intended to change.

There was a small park that she’d glimpsed while on their way to pick up Jessica from the station that she wanted to visit. It hadn’t been too far from the apartment to be a danger, but not too close as to make the stroll feel rather meaningless. To Charlie, being out in the fresh air and moving made her feel more at ease, even if it was only a little.

After roughly twenty-five minutes of walking, she came in sight of the park and came to realize it was a bit bigger than expected. Though her brain was quick to remind her she’d only seen it out a car window at dusk. ‘Not really an ideal viewing time.’

It was a decently sized city park, with a few small hills along with some gatherings of trees sprinkled throughout them. Despite the presence of a picnic area and a small playground, the park was nearly devoid of life. Save only for a jogger and someone reading a book on a bench near the entrance.

An overpowering feeling of serenity seemed to flow from the park that made Charlie feel rather welcome. She took a moment to pull down her scarf and inhale deeply, drinking in the relaxing atmosphere the park gave off.

Without hesitation, Charlie stepped into the park and began briskly walking around. The park, thankful that it was decently sized enough to really enjoy the atmosphere. She lost track of both time and everything around her while exploring all the different little pathways. The fact she had it all to herself only improved her mood as she continued along. It felt as though she was the sole inhabitant of undiscovered land, although it really wasn’t the case.

It had always felt somewhat liberating to just pick a direction and then aimlessly walk in it for a while. Forgetting the troubles even if it was only for a comparatively brief moment and perhaps even making some kind of discovery along the way. It was a childish feeling, but one that she never got tired of experiencing. Though it had led her into trouble more than once and she had to snap herself out of thinking back on those experiences, which just so happened to include Freddy’s.

That wasn’t what she wanted to think about right now, not in this little world she had to herself. Freddy’s was something she wanted to just shove into a box and never think about again. Sadly, the trauma she’d accumulated from the experience didn’t give her much of a choice in just “forgetting.” But thankfully, it could be contained if only for a moment.

Eventually, her paths led her to a bench that was situated atop one of the tallest of the hills and she sat down before leaning back to let the cool breeze blow across her face. A few loose curls of hair started lazily blowing around from beneath her hat and tickled her face. Causing Charlie to let out a brief that ended in a beaming smile as she closed her eyes while sighing contentedly.

The relaxing feeling made it seem as though the wind was blowing away the remaining anxiety and tension from her troubles with Arty. Scattering it all from her mind like leaves blown from dying trees. She found herself unable to resist giggling once again at how silly yet poetic her thoughts had gotten. Making her very briefly entertained the idea of teasing John with her “newfound poeticness.”

But that thought, along with many others that had started aimlessly running through her mind began to fade away as she began drifting off. Her head began rolling to the side before it bumped against the bench. The jolt roused Charlie and she sat up and started rubbing her head.

“Ouch...okay bench naps are a bad idea for me.” She groaned while nursing her head. Luckily for her, the pain quickly subsided and allowed her to stand up and stretch before she rolled up a sleeve to check the time. When she checked her watch though, she became a little surprised to discover it was only a little past noon.

That little discovery was followed up by a grumble from her stomach as if the realization of the time made it remember that she needed lunch. “Of course you’d chime in now.” She teasingly mumbled to herself before taking a look around the surrounding area from atop the hill.

While she was considering just heading home and eating there, she knew that without something in her stomach it would become a rather rough walk for her. So she looked around the area for something that could satisfy her until she’d gotten home and eventually her gaze settled on a small cafe situated on the opposite end of the park.

Her eyes lit up when she spotted it and she double-checked to see if she brought some money before she set off down the hill in the cafe’s direction. It wouldn't be much, but a warm drink or even a donut would be more than enough to tide her over till she got home.

She left the park and then crossed the over street into the cafe. Finding that, much like the park, it also only had a few other patrons inside and left the place nearly empty aside from the staff. But the lack of people had the added benefit of allowing Charlie to browse the menu for a bit longer than she’d normally take. Looking over each item before deciding upon a warm, sugary drink that she could barely pronounce the name of.

Just by taking a sip, she knew it was more than what she’d needed. After paying and exiting the cafe she started back down the sidewalk towards home. Though It was really less of a walk and more of a slow meandering mixed in with some light window shopping.

She found it all immensely relaxing to simply meandering her away along the row of shops, taking time to examine each window display that she passed. Though she hadn’t really any intention of buying anything. But it was still a welcome distraction from her troubles.

Eventually, she ran out of stores close to the sidewalk and so she started back for real. Humming to herself while taking periodic sips from her straw though always trying to keep her eyes focused on the sidewalks ahead of her. One inattentive step could lead to either a nasty collision with someone or a rather hard fall.

But the streets and sidewalk were just as empty as both the park and the Cafe had been. Aside from a few cars and other passersby, it almost felt like Charlie had the whole world to herself.

Unfortunately, her tranquility would come to a rather sudden end as she began crossing the driveway into a rather large parking lot. She’d become so into her thoughts and drink that she hadn’t noticed the large box truck making its way towards the same driveway.

The tried bedraggled looking Driver, only seeing Charlie at the last second/ But he’d been going slow enough so he was able to stop quickly, while also laying on his horn a little. Charlie jumped and swiveled her head towards the box truck with a look of repressed terror at how close its grill was to her body. The driver gave her an equally terrified and yet relieved expression.

Both of them shared a simultaneous sigh of relief before Charlie quickly moved out of the truck's way and allowed it to continue into the parking lot. Her eyes looked over the truck as it passed by and she took note of the name printed along the sides. _‘Huh, Taylor Enterprises… Haven't I heard that name before?’_ She turned to watch the truck pull back and then moved her eyes across the building it was heading towards.

The decision was met with immediate regret as soon as her eyes focused on the large sign over the building's entrance. The grip on her drink tightening up as a gasp escaped her lips.

“No...no no no no.” Charlie stepped away and shook her head, trying to keep herself from taking another look but failing. Her heart and stomach simultaneously dropped into an inescapably mass void that was created by the same cartoonish bear that she’d seen plastered on the billboard by John’s college not long ago.

The warmth and cheerfulness of Freddy Fazbears’ cartoonish illustration did not give Charlie any sort of comfort. Nor did his beckoning towards the building seem welcoming to her in the slightest. It seemed to take hours for Charlie to tear her gaze away from the bear and towards the building itself to take note of its appearance. Unlike the original restaurant's brick exterior, this one was a mixture of bright concrete, smooth lines, and painted panels that tried to give off a warm welcoming atmosphere to all who saw it. As if there couldn’t be anything dangerous lurking within its wall.

But that didn’t stop Charlie from feeling absolutely repulsed by being in its presence. Everything that had happened with Arty had indeed drawn her attention away from the new Freddy’s, but now it was at the forefront of her mind again. The Restaurant screamed louder than ever for the attention she’d been trying to deprive it of.

The grip on her drink grew stronger as she tried to turn away and continue going home but her body refused to respond. The place seemed to have cast some sort of spell on her that didn't allow her to break eye contact with the restaurant. Forcing her to continue staring at it like she was in a trance.

 _‘Brookhaven was supposed to be my escape...my release from everything Freddy’s did to me!’_ Charlie’s free hand clutched at her head as she shook from the anger that was bubbling up within her. As unreasonable and selfish as it was, she was growing furious at this restaurant. All the effort she’d put into better herself and get away from her past and it came back. Following her like some kind of angry dog chasing after a crow. Everything seemed to rise up at once and overloaded her mind with a chaotic overflow of thoughts.

 _‘Why would someone do this? Did all the deaths mean nothing to them?’_ A scowl crossed her face and her free hand moved from her hand and then balled up into a fist. _‘Of course, they didn’t matter, otherwise, you wouldn't be staring at a new one right now.’_

Charlie became completely transfixed and lost in her angry memories but one thing did catch her attention. There was a man steadily approaching her from the side of the building with a look of concern and relief on his face. Probably from both her near miss and the fact she was just standing outside the restaurant with an angered expression. Seeing his approach though, finally unlocked her body from the spell Freddy’s had cast over her.

But it had come too late for her to avoid interaction with the approaching man. By the time she’d reoriented herself he was right next to her, slightly out of breath. Charlie squeezed her eyes shut before taking a deep yet quiet breath of air. Hoping that it would calm herself down as the man’s breathing steadied enough for him to speak. She’d tried her best to refrain from letting her anger show on her face, but even then the best she could manage was a somewhat stern frown.

“Uhm, hey I’m...I’m so sorry about that near-miss back there. I’m uh…” he quickly trailed off as though he were trying to think of what to say. But all it made Charlie think of was some of the nervous people her aunt had dealt with at her office.

Back when she’d first moved in with her, there weren’t always babysitters on hand so she’d spend time hanging in Jen’s office. The man before her reminded Charlie of almost all the clients her aunt had spoken with, nervous and worried about potential legal retribution for their shady actions.

Despite his unassuming look and presence, Charlie felt like she could read him like a book. As he fumbled over his words, she quickly looked over to take some mental notes about his appearance, just in case, he’d prove to be trouble in the future. No chances were being taken after both Arty and “Dave.” He was an average looking guy, with short black hair, glasses, and a yellow dress shirt and jeans. Despite being taller than Charlie, he gave off a rather harmless demeanor.

“Do you need me to call someone?” He said after finally finding his words. “I don't want to assume anything but you looked to be in shock.”

“Oh, it’s alright. I should have been paying more attention to my surroundings.” Charlie said, forcing some positivity into her voice as well as a thin smile onto her face. Just barely hiding away the still bubbling anger. The man placed his hands on his hips, awkwardly looking away with a small sense of relief crossing his face. But it was quickly replaced with an attempt at a calm demeanor.

“Well it’s not really your fault..my driver is more than a little tired from his long trip. He probably shouldn’t be out on the road...at least not like that...It’s probably all my fault for making him drive from Utah all alone.”

“Oh really?” It was now Charlie’s turn to stutter, though she quickly subdued that by taking a long sip from her cup.

“Yeah, I probably should have had it flown out here in hindsight but…” Rick trailed off while making a little “eh” noise along with a small gesture with his hands. “I didn’t want to risk them getting a bit...banged up on the flight over.”

The last part had been saying quieter, mostly to him but it’d still been loud enough for Charlie to catch what he’d said. Making her let out an almost audible gasp, that almost turned into a choke due to still sipping her drink.

The sound of which drew the man’s attention back to her as another wave of concern crossed his face. But Charlie swallowed it down before holding out her hand reassuringly.

“I’ll be fine.” She said, trying to assure herself just as much as she was the man. He nodded before glancing away from her yet again. As if his mind were on other things and the conversation was a mere formality.

Charlie supposed it was for him. Just to make sure that she was uninjured and wouldn't sue. But it was clear he had no way to end the conversation so Charlie stepped up to fill that role. Mostly to put as much distance between herself and the new Freddy’s as she could manage.

“If there’s nothing else then I’ll just be on my way.” She said cordially. To which the man turned back in surprise, before giving her a polite nod.

“A-Alright then...have a good day and be safe, miss…”

“Baker.” Charlie instinctively said, not really thinking much of giving him just her last name. But it seemed to stir something in the man as he suddenly took a long, hard look at her face.

Before she was able to comment on it, his eyes fully winded as he let out a gasp of his own. “C-Charlie!? Is-is uh- is that actually no wait uh..” Charlie took a step back from him, alarmed at his sudden recognition of her. Every mental defense she’d lowered was now back on high alert. The man noticed this and stepped back.

“S-Sorry I mean..you’re..your father wouldn't have happened to have been Henry Elliot Baker would it?”

 _‘He knows who you are...how?’_ Was all that echoed from the numbness that had taken over Charlie’s body. The best she could think now was to just nod as a reply to the question. Which only served to make the man’s face light up even further.

“Oh...oh my uh...this. This is great!” The apprehension drained from his face and was replaced with uncontainable delight as he laughed before clasping onto her shoulder.

“I’m sorry I didn't recognize you at first uh, you’ve grown up so much. Why I can remember when you were just a little girl always hiding behind Henry’s legs.” The hair on Charlie’s arms and neck rose in response to both the statement and touch. This man not only knew who she was but had also known her as a little girl.

‘That doesn't mean anything, he knew you as a child but only as a child.’ Her mind cautioned. He may have known her as a child, but that didn’t automatically earn someone her trust. She wanted to run away from this conversation but had unfortunately dug herself in too deep to leave. Besides, she was more than a little curious how this man knew her and she said that out loud.

"How do you know who I am?"

"Oh…you don't- of course you don't you were so little." The man awkwardly chuckled. "U I’m Rick Taylor. I was one of your father's investors in the original Freddy's, well pretty much the only one."

Charlie's mind went blank before a few vague memories started to form that could have involved Rick in some way, but she wasn't sure. When it came to the business side of Freddy’s, she’d always tuned out any conversations her dad had been having because at that age it was just ”boring grown-up stuff.” Though it was something she now wished she’d taken more notice of after returning to the restaurant a year ago. Maybe she’d have caught onto “Dave” sooner and saved them all some trouble

Rick didn’t notice her silent contemplation, nor was he bothered by the somewhat uncomfortable gaze that she gave him as he looked her over almost proudly. “Look at you, all grown up and on your own- I assume you are unless- Are you still living with your aunt?’

“No, she’s more than happy to stay in Utah” Charlie politely pulled herself away and glanced back in the direction she assumed the apartment was. As if that would somehow summon someone to her aid. “I live nearby with my boyfriend.”

“Oh, that's wonderful! Are you taking any courses at college?” He asked and Charlie shook her head in the negative. She didn’t want to give away too much of her current life, even if Rick was genuine, she still wasn’t willing to give out too much information regardless. Only giving the most simple and basic answers to hopefully placate allow Rick so she could be on her way.

But as Rick went to ask another question, something buzzed from within his pocket. He dug his hands around before pulling out a pager. He glanced up at Charlie and sheepishly raised a finger.

“Uh, one moment.” He looked down at the pager and read the message while Charlie took another sip from her drink in an attempt to calm her now fraying nerves.. Once he’d finished up, Rick looked back to Charlie with a disappointed expression... “I’m afraid I’m going to have to cut this reunion short, I forgot that the ovens are getting installed today.” He turned his body back towards Freddy’s whole still keeping his gaze on her...

“I’d offer you to come in but, we’re still not finished so it's really not uh… that impressive yet.”

 _‘That would imply I would actually want to step back into another Freddy’s.’_ Charlie tapped a finger against her drink and gave Rick the ‘dealing with a customer smile,” that Rebecca had taught her.

“That’s alright, maybe I’ll come to visit if I can find the time.” It was perhaps the most bald-faced lie Charlie had said since her childhood as she had every intention of avoiding this area from here on out. Thankfully Rick didn’t catch onto the lie and merely nodded whilst rubbing his hands.

“Well I hope that you can visit again, I’d love for you to see how we’re honoring your father’s work.”The statement nearly caused Charlie to wince but she just nodded and kept maintaining the smile.

Rick turned away from her and started to walk back before he jolted to stop. He then turned around suddenly with a bright gleam in his eyes. “Actually, uh, what if you and your boyfriend came on opening night?” Charlie was unable to prevent herself from blurting out a rather startled “What?” as Rick enthusiastically nodded.

“Yeah, you could both see the restaurant when it’s all completed!” A massive grin began to spread on Rick’s face, which just further unnerved Charlie.

“Well I-I uh… I don’t know if that’ll totally work out… Not sure if we’ll be free then.” Every excuse Charlie could think of began pouring in and trying to escape into her mouth. From her work schedule to John’s classes. “I don’t know what his classes look like then, or my work… But if things are clear maybe…” she said, hoping the last second “maybe” would placate Rick’s expectations.

Instead, he began digging back into his pockets before he pulled out a little card and he'd it out to Charlie. “How about for right now, you take this and get back to me when you know a bit more. The opening isn’t not going to be for almost a month anyway so you’ve got plenty of time to think about it.”

Not knowing what else she could do without seeming rude, Charlie took the card from Rick’s hands as he said goodbye and headed back towards the restaurant. Charlie returned it with a half-hearted goodbye of her own that was followed by the barest approximation of a wave. As soon as he was far enough away she bolted, no longer caring if her drink was spilled. Everything suddenly seemed to start crashing down on her all at once. The interaction breaking floodgates and allowed every negative feeling related to Freddy’s to come spilling out all at once.

Her heart thumped widely within her chest while her stomach knotted itself in an endless loop. She felt worse than sick, a feeling of intense fear rose up, throwing her heart into her throat as she ran with reckless abandon back towards the apartment. Not even caring if anyone saw her. Her mind racing as fast as her feet with all the thoughts swirling around and clamoring for attention.

Rick’s kindness hadn’t done anything to lessen her anger, in fact, it might have made it worse. If he really was her father’s investor and friend then he should’ve known better than to restart Freddy’s. All of the tragedy that had taken place had tainted the restaurant's name to her and everyone else in Hurricane.

 _‘In Hurricane, but not Brookhaven.’_ Charlie cursed to herself and scowled. He did know, that was why he’d moved the new Freddy’s across the country. In much the same way she’d tried to escape her past, Rick was also trying to help Freddy’s outrun its own.

It didn’t take long for her to get back to the complex. All of the relaxation gone and replaced with a combination of fear, sadness, and anger. Charlie bolted up to her and John’s apartment and unlocked it before hurling herself into what she hoped would be comforting. But there was little to be found as everything was now hurting.

Her legs hurt from running, her head was pounding and her chest felt like it was about to burst. She was out of breathing and wheezing out pathetic little sobs from the shock of it all.

 _‘You knew this was going to happen sooner or later…’_ A mocking voice echoed from the back of her mind, taking on a tone that sounded eerily close to Dave’s voice. _‘There was no way that you could just leave this go.’_

Charlie slammed the cup onto the nearby countertop and slumped against the door. Her shallow breaths became deeper and yet no less frantic as she slid down to the floor.

“I just want this to be a dream…” She begged quietly. Hoping that it would turn out to just be some nightmare brought on by work-related stress. But a quick glance at the card Rick gave her told her otherwise. During her sprint home, she’d clenched the paper so hard that it’d crumpled up in her hand. Crushing it to almost the point of being unrecognizable.

Her anger flared again as she stared at the paper and then she quickly rose to her feet. Rick could be as nice as he wanted, but she was determined to never again go near the new Freddy’s as long as she lived. She began storming over towards the trash can, intent on tearing up the card and forgetting about it. But as she drew closer to the trash can, her body froze up. A single memory burst through the roaring torrent of thoughts, reminding her of something Rick had said when he came over to her and told her where his driver had come from. Nearly forgotten amongst everything else she’d learned.

“Utah…” Charlie slowly repeated. As if just saying it would somehow bring even more bad memories forth from the darkest pits of her mind. There was no way it wasn’t a coincidence, especially with how Rick had mentioned “honoring her father’s work.”

Her hands tightened into fists, further crumbling up the paper as her body began to shake. She wanted to scream and make her feelings about this known but she could only stand still as angry tears began to flow from her face. Running down her cheeks and dripping onto the carpet of a home that didn't feel safe anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I belt you're all kinda curious why this chapter took so long. Truth be told I had a very rough mental week and I needed to take time off the story to give you guys a quality product. It's also why henceforth the story will be updated Bi-weekly from here on out as I was unable to keep up with the weekly releases and still put out something with quality.  
> There will also be no set release day. It can happen, Friday, Saturday, or even Sunday. Today is just because I was unable to finish yesterday. So that's how it's going to be from now on.  
> But I gotta thank everyone who kept supporting this story while I took the break. Seeing all the kudos and hits made me want to continue. Thanks everyone and see you next time!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Monday just seems to be when I post these now...ah well it's a better start to the week than most are having. I hope all of my readers are safe despite the uh...everything going on.  
> This chapter and chapter 14 were originally one chapter that I decided to split, but I hope you enjoy regardless. No Charlie or John in these next two chapters. We're stuck with Arty. You're all thrilled I can tell, but there's more than just him popping back into the story.  
> I hope you all enjoy and tell me your thoughts if you have any!  
> See ya in two weeks or so XD

_“I don’t care how it happened, all that matters to me is the fact that you lost your job and I don’t want you to become a lazy slacker like your “friend” from school. So get out there and find yourself some work while we solve this or else you can kiss some of your privileges “goodbye!”_

Deep in the storeroom of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, Arty silently swept the floor while replaying the harsh words of his father for what felt like the hundredth time since his shift had begun. The memory causing his grip on the broom to tighten as a flash of anger crossed his face.

Those had been the only words his father had said after he’d heard about Arty being fired from Saver Saviors. While his parents had initially believed his side and to overturn their son's termination they had ultimately failed as Jeremy held firm in his decision to let Arty go. The conviction his former boss had displayed causing some doubt to also form in their minds about the validity of their son’s narrative.

Arty had been certain that having been just unfairly terminated would mean that his parents would have given him the time to let it all sink in and get over it. But his dad wasn’t having any of that and had outright forced him into getting a new job as soon as possible.

But they’d run into a problem almost immediately as with the end of summer also came with the end of part-time seasonal hiring until the holidays. But even that would have only been a temporary fix on his job issue and his father quickly vetoed the idea of simply waiting until the holiday season came around.

What made even harder for the young man was that most of the places that were hiring didn’t seem to care about him still being in school and wanted him on-call all day, or didn't pay well enough to justify breaking his back every weekend. To make things even worse was the discovery that but more than a few people in the area had not only heard about his termination from Saver Saviors but also the reason why and thus were unwilling to take him on as an employee. 

The only place that would take him was the as-of-yet unopened Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. Which was run by an “out of Towner” called Rick Taylor. A friendly fellow who had been more than happy to work with Arty’s school schedule, but this in turn came with a few drawbacks such as being stuck working on the weekends. Which would also include him doing a few hours on Friday nights. 

This was something that would have normally led to Arty rejecting the job, but both the pressure from his father intermixed with the promise of a decent paycheck was enough to win him over. Besides, he figured it'd be best to just wait until people forgot about his earlier firing and then taking a better job if one were to come along.

But even as he toiled away with his new job, his mind continued going back to his firing from Saver Saviors as well as the reason why he’d been fired. Thinking about what Charlotte had done to him caused Arty to start grinding his teeth as he harshly threw his dustpan onto the floor.

“I can't believe all of that happened to me just because I wanted to help someone in need.” He grumbled while collecting his accumulated pile of dirt into the dustpan. “Well, let’s see if I ever stick my neck out for someone like that again.”

Whatever feelings Arty had harbored for Charlotte became twisted into anger after he was fired from Jeremy's store. The fact that she’d not only rejected his offer to help but also insisted on defending that lazy writer infuriated Arty to no end because to him it seemed like Charlotte was just throwing her life away and unable to do anything besides work to fund John’s “college dreams.” But if that’s what Charlotte wanted to do with her life then that was her business. Even if it meant her future would probably be that of a toiling puppet to John’s whims. But after what she’d done to him, Arty found that he could no longer feel any kind of sympathy for her plight.

Once he’d finished finishing sweeping up the pile Arty picked up the dustpan and his grumbling turned into a disgruntled groan. The trashcans in the storeroom were surprisingly few in number and the closest one was located close by some older animatronics Mr. Taylor had trucked in from out of state. It was an area that Arty hated having to go to, but there was little option outside of trekking all the way across the storeroom. Plus he had to sweep in that area next and so another bout of grumbling he swung his broom over his shoulder before walking over towards that area.

The storeroom itself was a spacious room that was located close by the loading area near the back of the restaurant. It also served as a sort of repair area for the animatronics if nothing could be done for them while they were on stage. This meant that most of the space in the storeroom was taken up by shelves that held stacks of boxes full of parts for the animatronics. In addition to that, it also contained the restraints supply of spare chairs, tables, and extra boxes of party supplies. But most of it was allocated for stuff pertaining to the “stars of the show”

Cleaning it was perhaps the most loathed task in the Pizzeria; at least it was in Arty’s opinion. The only true grievance with Rick Taylor was the man’s obsession with keeping Freddy’s as nice as possible. Wanting the entire restaurant to stay be pleasing to the eyes of the costumers, even the areas that were off-limits to most guests.

While his parents found it a rather admirable trait, Arty himself would more describe it as somewhat draconian in nature. Making the employees clean like crazy in order for Rick to boost himself by taking credit for their hard work. But it was something that Arty would never say out loud to anyone, especially not Rick himself. So he instead settled on grumbling his grievances beneath his breath whenever he was alone.

But due to his focus being more on grumbling than paying attention, he didn’t see the blue rabbit standing before him until he’d run straight into it. The sudden bump sent him jolting back while also dropping the dustpan to the floor, the impact throwing its contents into the air before they settled back to the floor.

Arty scowled while checking over his face for any injuries and after checking his hand to see if there was any blood on it, he quickly looked up to see if he’d damaged the old blue rabbit.

Luckily for him, there wasn’t even a bit of disturbed fur on the worn blue animatronic rabbit, at least not that he could see anyway. Other than the fact it was now slightly pushed to the side, there wasn’t any sign of Arty’s presence save for the dirt cloud now settling onto the floor. It was a good thing too as Mr. Taylor was very keen on keeping this rabbit and its contemporaries in good condition. Which was why they remained strapped down to large wooden pallets in the back of the storeroom. But even being tied down didn’t stop the rabbit from casting an imposing presence that was quite unnerving to Arty. 

The thought of said contemporaries made Arty glance away from the rabbit to check that the others were all still strapped down to their own pallets. His eyes passed from the rabbit to the bear, then the chicken and finally the fox. All of whom were thankfully still in their proper place, though that was mostly due to them being strapped down like precious cargo. It’d always been warned that any employee who even messed with the things a little bit was subject to immediate termination.

It was a bizarre rule that only caused Arty to raise even more questions regarding the sanity of his new boss. The man was dead set on these animatronics being treated like sacred relics, despite their rather old and very tattered appearances. They all had names too, which Rick always seemed happy to remind people of whenever he could. Though Arty couldn’t be bothered to learn their names and so only ever referred to them by the animals they were based on. He also did this with he did with the one’s in the restaurant itself, except for Freddy since he was the mascot and all. So forgetting him was nearly impossible.

Though he always felt like he was being generous by calling the animatronics animals as they only resembled them in the most basic elements like having animal-shaped heads and ears. Maybe it was because he wasn’t a little kid, but Arty couldn't understand the appeal of these things. They were rather unnerving with eyes that seemed intent on tracking his every movement with uncaring gazes as if they were waiting for something. But he couldn't tell what exactly it was, but then he didn’t really care to begin with. They were machines after all, no after how “advanced” they were.

 _A couple of hunks of wires, metal, and old cloth. That’s what you all are and nothing more.’_ He thought while looking back over to the blue rabbit and gave it a dismissive look. The rabbit stared back with a face that was frozen like he was laughing at Arty for bumping into him and dropping his dustpan. With an angry huff Arty reached up and smacked the rabbit on the forehead with his palm.

“Wipe that dumb look off your face.” He hissed before picking up his dustpan and looking around. “It’s your fault anyway, now I have to sweep it all up again!” Despite Arty’s yells the rabbit could only continue on silently staring at him as the young man began sweeping up everything he'd split; and despite his brazenness, he took extra care when sweeping around the pallets. The last thing he needed was to lose this job just because he accidentally knocked over some old robot.

Once he was certain that there was no trace of his fall left, Arty picked up the dustpan and carefully made his way around the older animatronics. As he passed by the blue rabbit he flashed a victories smirk as he dumped the dustpan’s contents into the trash that sat just behind them.

But as he was turning away from the trash can, he suddenly heard the sound of both Rick calling out orders and a set of footfalls approaching the storeroom. Arty set down his broom before dashing around the animatronics and sprinted over towards the entrance. Stopping himself just short of the wide double doors as they were thrown open and Rick Taylor entered the room while directing a group of other employees handling yet another pallet with an animatronic on it. 

This animatronic was another rabbit, but it looked even older than the blue one Arty had bumped into earlier. With more weathering and tatters around the joins with a yellowish color that becomes somewhat brown over the years. But perhaps the most striking feature of the rabbit was that it had what looked to have a permanent grin etched across its face. This, along with its half-opened eyes made it look as if it were relishing being carried about like an ancient king.

“Alright, let’s walk him over to the others and then set it down next to Foxy,” Rick called out to the workers. He turned to look ahead and saw Arty watching on which made a thin simile cross his face as he gestured for him to come over. “Oh, Arty I didn’t know you were still working here. Uh, could you spare some time to help us all out?”

“Uh, yeah sure thing Mr. Taylor...” Arty said before running over and grabbing into the pallet, helping everyone else steady it as they worked to guide it through the storeroom to the other animatronics. Once they’d gotten it over them, they set the pallet down so it placed the rabbit into a standing position next to the old red fox.

Rick watched on as they set it down and once he was satisfied that the animatronic wasn’t going to fall over, he began to warmly congratulate all of the workers. “Thanks, everyone, uh those of you who were just finishing up your shifts may clock out early. Everyone else will be getting a little bonus for your efforts today.”

The other employees became quite jovial hearing that, though Arty didn’t share in their mood. Mostly because he still had yet another hour to go and it seemed rather strange to him that Rick would offer a bonus just for carrying one of the old scrap piles. But he said nothing like the rest of the employees quickly filed their way out of the storeroom and left Rick and Arty alone with the older animatronics.

Arty turned back to collect his broom but then stopped when he noticed that Rick was walking over to the yellow rabbit and grasping its arms while a joyful grin spread across his face. He stepped back while still holding onto its arms while carefully looking animatronic up and down.

“Oh it’s so wonderful to actually have one of these suits,” He shook his head with an airy sigh. “it’s a shame that we couldn't find Fredbear too...” Rick trailed off while gently stroking the fur on the animatronics arm with a far off look in his eyes as he conjured up a memory that he’d never gotten to actually see. 

Arty watched on and grew unnerved by Rick’s attitude and so aired the first thought that came to mind out loud. “Wait, who’s Fredbear? I thought that the bear’s name was Freddy?” He didn’t really care if he startled Rick or not but the older man just looked over with a wistful smile as if he knew that question would come sooner or later.

“Ah, well Fredbear was the name of Freddy’s precursor, way back in the ’70s along with this animatronic.” Rick gestured to the yellow rabbit and patted it’s stomach while Arty looked at it over it in surprise. It looked way too advanced to have been built back in the ’70s. From what he knew from the stuff his family had told him, something like this should have been impossible. Rick seemed to read his mind and addressed that with his next sentence.

“Yeah, Henry was really ahead of his time with all his creations.” Rick looked down to the floor and shook his head sadly. “This suit and Fredbear were very special though, not just because they were his firsts but also because they could be both an animatronic and a suit.” Arty raised his eyebrows and looked at the rabbit again. ‘ _Why on earth would anyone willingly wear that thing?’_ He bit his lip to make sure the thought stayed in his mind as Rick continued talking. Seeming to not even care if Arty was paying attention or not.

“Course, they weren’t exactly the safest things, though part of me wishes he’d kept on trying with them. It’d revolutionize the whole industry...or so some of my stockbrokers have told me at least.” He sighed yet again before finally pulling his hand away from the suit and then laughed upon seeing some of the fake furs that had stuck onto his hand.

heh, ah I forgot how the fur on these suits would stick to everything.” Rick said before proceeding to brush it all off on his pants.

Arty looked away from his boss and towards the rabbit, his own eyes meeting and gazing into the rabbit’s own, which then made him suppress an involuntary shiver. The suit seemed as though it were judging him, even more so than the other animatronics that surrounded them. It’s half asleep looking gaze pierced right through Arty and seeming to read him like an open book.

Arty pulled his broom closer to his body as though it were some kind of weapon, even as his brain mocked the fear that was rapidly overtaking him. But his nervousness went unnoticed by Rick, who suddenly turned to face Arty with a rather serious expression

Arty, do you remember the rules I made about the other animatronics?” He asked while looking behind Arty at the older machines, but didn’t even allow Arty the time to reply before he pointed back at the yellow rabbit. “Well, it goes double for this suit. I do not want anyone moving or trying to climb inside this suit. I know I said it was meant to be worn but it was retired for being more dangerous than it was worth. Everyone’s going to hear this but since you’re still working down here, you get to hear it first.” He patted the suit's stomach again, causing some of the internal mechanisms to rattle around. “Instant termination for anyone that tries to screw around with it.”

Arty drew back at Rick's harsh tone before giving him a nod to show that he understood. Satisfied that his point was made, Rick stood up and began to exit the storage room. Casting a final look over his shoulder as a warning before walking out of the double doors and leaving Arty all alone again with the animatronics.

For a moment, Arty silently watched Rick leave before looking at the yellow rabbit one last time and shrinking away from its gaze again. The sudden change in Rick’s tone had done more to unnerve him than spending a whole month with the suits. Part of him wanted to say something witty that would hopefully alleviate his rising tension, but nothing was coming to mind. Other than the single thought that told him to get away from the older animatronics and just finish his work.

This thought was one he was more than happy to listen to as he began walking off to another area of the storeroom he had yet to clean. His body turning on something of an autopilot that was determined to just do the bare minimum so he could go home for the night. The combination of the freaky-looking machines and Rick’s grimness had eaten away at his bravado to the point where it almost didn’t exist anymore.

To this end, he decided to do some work that would put him as far away from the animatronics as possible. There was thankfully a little office nearby which was located the top of a flight of stairs that overlooked the entire storeroom. He didn’t know why it had been placed up there, but his best guess was it was so whoever was overseeing everything could keep an eye on everyone in the room.

But right now its purpose was the last thing on Arty’s mind. It and the stairs leading to it were some of the last areas he had to clean and they were located far away from the animatronics. But upon further reflection, even that was perhaps a bit of a generous thought as they were still in the same room.

His footsteps echoed about the once again quiet storeroom as he clenched the broom and dustpan so hard he grew worried he might break them. But he didn’t want to relax or slow down even a little bit. Deciding that he could rest once he was in the upper office and away from the animatronics.

But as he made his little flight over to the stairs, another sound began emanating behind him. It was an almost rhythmically harsh, yet hollow thud that sounded like the noise of wood smacking into the floor. He paused and turned just as an almighty “ _CRASH”_ boomed throughout the room. The accompanying sounds of splintering wood made Arty jump almost a foot in the air and fall back, only managing to regain his balance seconds before he took another nasty spill.

His heart was raced as he whipped his head towards the direction the noise seemed to have come from. Only to then realize that it had seemed to originate from the area housing the older animatronics. A hole opened beneath his stomach as he started to walk back over to the small area. Said hole enlarged as when came across a rather distressing site.

The pallet the yellow rabbit had been strapped too was now scattered about the floor. Many of the wooden planks broken apart from the others as if they’d been ripped apart by an almighty force; while the straps that had held the animatronic looked to have been pulled apart.

A string of colorful words followed his thought as he walked over to the remains of the pallet, only for him to then freeze as another realization sunk in. The yellow rabbit suit was missing. Not just lying on the floor underneath the pallet, but it was gone without any kind of trace left behind.

Arty took a quick glance around the area confirmed that it hadn’t been thrown clear when the pallet fell. But that hope was dead on arrival as the only other thing he could see where the other animatronics with their heads slightly turned downward. No doubt having been jolted by the sudden impact.

“Shit.” Arty gasped while stepping away from the scene with an uncomfortable shiver. Mr. Taylor’s harsh words came back to the forefront of his mind as another horrible thought arose. He’d been the only one in the room when the suit had gone missing, which meant that when Rick came looking for answers as to the suit's whereabouts that Arty would be the first he came too and No doubt the first one he’d also fire when he did so.

Arty’s breaths suddenly became a lot shallower as a sense of panic began to settle in along with the shivering. If he got fired from two jobs so close together then he’d be screwed. It’d be ten times harder to get more work and not only that, but his dad would probably burst a blood vessel when he heard about it.

 _‘If Arty, not when. If.’_ Arty exhaled before relaxing his body in an effort to loosen up and calm down. There was absolutely no way he was getting fired over someone else’s stupid prank with the rabbit costume. Not if he had anything to say about it at least. The re was only one way out of the storeroom and the perpetrator couldn’t have gone far. 

A smirk crossed Arty’s face as he thought about catching the would-be prankster and getting some kind of reward from Mr. Taylor for turning them in, At the very least he might be able to bargain out of having to clean the storeroom in the future.

The thought of that brought a bit of vigor back into Arty as he began quickly moving away from the older animatronics towards the front of the storeroom. Hoping to lock the doors so the "prankster" couldn't leave. But he was so enwrapped in his hopes of a better position in the restaurant that he didn’t hear the clicking of old gears as the older animatronics turned their heads in his direction. Their eyes settling on his retreating form with matching despondent stares, as if they knew something horrible was about to take place.

Something Arty wouldn't find out about until it was too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ghosts warn of my actions, but I'm the main attraction. You'll bring my satisfaction, this little horror story's just begun.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Death. 
> 
> Course it's kinda obvious as you all figured it out. At least that's what the comments indicated, but we'll see how many of you will rue being right when the chapter ends.

The haphazard jingling of keys filled the air as they were yanked from Arty’s pocket and then slammed into the storeroom door’s keyhole. The young man letting out a short, triumphant laugh as a _‘click’_ sounded out from the door as the locks moved firmly into place and blocked off the only exit out of the storeroom.

 _'And they thought that giving me these keys would be a mistake.’_ Arty grinned as he stuck the keys back into his pockets, which had been given to him after becoming part of Freddy’s cleaning crew. Giving a set of master keys that allowed him access to every door in the building had been something that the janitors were reluctant to give a teenager of. However, Rick had deemed it essential for Arty to have his own set. Though he wasn’t allowed to take them anywhere outside of the pizzeria, not that he would anyway as he had no intention of ever stealing anything from Freddy’s.  
While Arty himself was unsure why anyone would even want to steal from the restaurant, the current situation that he’d found himself in was giving him the chance to find at least one answer to that question.

Once he was certain that he’d secured the keys in his pocket, Arty turned back towards the rows of shelves with a trepidatious grin. With the doors now locked, there was no way for the person in the suit to get out. It was now just them and Arty in the room, which didn’t do anything to quell the still uneasy feeling that was lurking within his stomach.

But with his shift already so close to ending, Arty didn’t want to spend a thousand years looking for the thief. This needed to be as quick as possible so he could go home and let Rick dole out whatever punishment he saw fit to give the thief.

A plan of action began forming in his head, one that would make the search quick and also prevent the thief from getting the jump on him. After taking a deep breath, Arty pushed off the wall and launched himself into a manic sprint across the room. The sound of his frantic footfalls echoing about as he quickly ran along the width of the rows of shelves. His eyes quickly scanning each aisle for any signs of the suit, but he found no signs of it upon finishing his dash to the other side of the room. He didn’t even bother to slow down, choosing to use his hands to push off the nearest wall to get a start on the next lap along the shelves.

This time, he moved a little bit slower so he could get a better look at each of the rows. But once again the search turned up nothing. After reaching the other end once again, he pushed off the wall but continued on at a slower pace than before.

Each step causing further unease to creep into his chest as the search once again turned up empty. The unease was quickly joined by anger as his jaw and fists clenched up as he walked up next to the older animatronics.

 _‘Where the hell could that thing have gone?’_ Arty shifted his body to try and loosen up. His mind drawing a blank on what to do next, there weren’t a lot of places to hide in the storeroom. With the only possible answer being up in the offices, but he’d kept an eye on the stairs the whole time to make sure no one was trying to sneak up there.

The thought did occur to him to try using it as a vantage point, but the stairs always made quite the noise whenever someone used them. It was a terrible idea since the noise would no doubt alert the thief to his intentions and give them time to find a way to hide from him.

Arty ran a hand through his hair while making an angry grunt. What happened next was born out of a sense of tiredness and desperation that was fueled by a constantly simmering anger. Arty cupped both hands up to his mouth and shouted,

“Hey, I don’t know if you heard Mr. Taylor but you’d better return that suit right now or else you’re gonna be fired!” His call was meant with total silence, though It wasn’t all that shocking to Arty. If the thief really was this committed to stealing the old rabbit suit, then there was no way they’d give up just because of a threat from one of the cleaning staff. Arty ran his hand across his face as his mind scrambled to think of another approach that wouldn’t require too much more effort on his part.

“Okay... threats not working...let’s try being a bit the “nicer”.” He whispered, before cupping his hands back to his face to call out to the thief once again. “Look, man, I don’t want to have to get Mr. Taylor involved in this. So please just come on out, put the suit back and we’ll sort things out.”

His voice took on a slightly pleading tone despite his attempt to keep it neutral, not wanting to give away the fact he was lying out of his rear to the thief. He took a few slow steps towards the shelves, continuing to call out into the seemingly empty room.

“You’ve got my word that no one else is going to find out. It’ll be our little secret okay?” Arty lowered with hands with a content smile, hoping that his reassurance at the end would do the trick. But to his disappointment, the thief seemed to have caught onto the fact he was lying.

“Alright fine, I gave you a chance to do this peacefully,” Arty shouted while trying to keep the fear and anger from his voice. “I’ll make sure Mr. Taylor finds out about this immediately! He’s probably going to send you packing right to the police station for touching that suit.”

Deep down, he was hoping that the threat would elicit a last-minute reaction from the thief despite the other failed attempts. But this time, he was going to back up his words with actions. Arty began making his way back across the storeroom for a final time. Stomping his feet loudly to the thief would be able to hear where he was going.

“Sorry to have to do this man, but I don’t have any other choice!” Arty shouted. “You had plenty of chances to come out, but now it’s time to face consequences.”

He stopped mid-step as an unfamiliar sound approached him from deep within the shelves. They almost sounded like feet crunching their way through heavy snow, which sent all of his bravado spiraling down the metaphorical drain. Fear latched onto him like a parasite as he looked in the direction the noises were coming from, only to immediately regret the decision when the yellow rabbit stomped out from around one of the shelves. Being freed from the pallet allowed the suit to stand at its full height, which meant it towered over the young man even from a distance. 

But despite the imposing presence created by the rabbit’s silhouette, it also gave off an air of curiosity. Its head was tilted to the left, with the large ears on its head swiveled in the same direction. The half-closed eyes gave off a look of inquisitiveness, as though it’d never seen anything like Arty before.

Such things went unnoticed by Arty, the younger man staggering back. Both his body and voice trembled as the suit came to a stop only a dozen feet away from him. It’s jaw opening up further as if it was going to speak to him, even though no words came out.

“Y-y...you actually put it on…” Arty whispered, looking the old suit up and down as a raspy, incredulous tone “I-I can’t believe you actually did that! Didn't you hear Mr. Taylor call that stupid thing dangerous? What part of that didn’t you get? You’re gonna get yourself killed in that thing” He looked at the suit’s eyes, but then quickly averted his gaze. 

The uneasy feeling he’d gotten while looking into the suit’s eyes earlier was now intensified by its presence. The suit’s head rolled further to the side as if asking for clarification on what Arty had said to it.

Arty felt his jaw go slack, but he mustered up a few ounces of courage to address the suit once more. “Can you knock off the Easter bunny act? It’s getting late and I want to get out of here without getting fired.”

The suit became motionless, though its eyes remained fixated on Arty. Despite how unnerved he was becoming, Arty decided not to play into whatever game the wearer of the suit was playing. He let out a shaky huff before then reaching out and grabbing the suit by the neck hole. He’d barely touched it for a second before the suit once again moved. This time, its head looking down to stare at Arty’s hand with an air of nonchalance as it seemed more curious than offended by the sudden touch.

Every hair on Arty’s body rose when the suit turned its head back up to face him. Its head rolling even further to the side, which allowed its mouth opening even wider than before. Arty quickly withdrew his hand and stepped away from the suit. He only realized that he was shaking when he instinctively grabbed onto the arm that had been touching the suit.

He’d barely begun collecting his thoughts when the sudden groan of old gears filled the air around him. The suit's left arm jerked up and outwards, moving directly towards his neck.

Arty screamed before scrambling back but in the process hit one of his ankles with the back of his foot. The sudden jolt of pain combined with the frantic movement sent the young man sprawling to the floor. He let out a sharp cry of pain, which caused the suit to come to a sudden stop mid-movement. Its head turned down to look at him as its mouth creaked open wider than it’d already had been, making it look as though the suit had taken some delight in watching him fall over.

Arty wheezed angrily as he pushed himself back onto his feet. His back hurt a little from the fall and the air had completely left his lungs thanks to the impact. He looked back at the suit and took in it’s delighted looking grin before responding to it with a sneer.

“Oh, so you found that funny, eh?” He asked angrily. The suit remained perfectly still, but from within Arty could make out a faint metallic rattling that to him, almost sounded a bit like laughter.

Arty’s face contorted into a look of pure rage and he stepped towards the suit as his anger overrode any rational thoughts that might have stopped his next actions. “Since you think it’s so funny, then let’s see how _you_ like it!” He said before running forward and shoved his hands hard against the suit’s chest.

The rabbit lurched back violently, the old gears in its legs scraping loudly as the suit fumbled about for some traction. But its padded feet just slid on the floor until it tipped backward and hit the ground with an almighty crash. The withered limbs splaying out and rattling the mechanical components that lay hidden deep beneath the artificial fur. Arty watched it fall over with a satisfied grin and started to laugh at his small victory over the thief.

“Aww, that’s the matter big guy? Not so fun when the shoe’s on the other foot is it?” He let out another bout of laughter that was cut off when a noise that sounded like a backfiring car came from within the suit. It was then followed by several more of the backfiring like sounds as the suit jerked around violently on the floor. Arty quickly covered his ears and watched on with a sense of unfolding horror. The realization hitting him that he might have just hurt a fellow employee out of anger. Arty shook as the suit finished its wild jerking and fell still. The only sound now emanating from it being the clicking of its settling gears. 

He ran over and knelt down next to the suit while cursing under his breath. More towards whoever was in the suit then at himself for letting his anger control him once again. He grabbed hold of both ends of the suit's jaw and started pushing them apart. Using as much strength as possible to try and open it to see whoever was inside.

He hoped that they weren’t hurt too badly, at most just knocked out so he wouldn’t have to explain what had actually happened. But if they were dead, then he’d have to deal with the dead body. Which was a bigger problem then he was willing to face.  
The gears within the mouth protested for a bit before eventually giving up and opening to reveal…

“It… it’s empty?” Arty sat on the floor and placed a hand onto his face while staring down at the suit’s mouth in shock. Indeed, all that he could see inside were the robotics that made the suit an animatronic with no sign of a human having worn it in ages. The only thing of note was what he took to be some bits of plastic that fell out of the mouth and onto the floor.

“Shit…” He swore and then took another look into the head, knowing it was impossible for this suit to have moved on its own. At least, it was if Rick had been telling him the truth about it being inactive for almost two decades.

But now he didn’t know what to think and it just made him more freaked out then he’d already been. Swiftly rising to his feet, he got ready to just run out of the storeroom and leave the suit on the floor but stopped himself at the last second. If he just ran out it would no doubt prove his guilt to Mr. Taylor, which would then result in his termination from two jobs in less than a month.

Arty sighed in defeated resignation and stooped down to loop his arms around the suit's shoulders. It took a great deal of effort to lift the suit high enough to be comfortable, but once it was at the right height he was able to begin slowly dragging it along the floor.

It took almost ten minutes of breathless struggling, but he soon had the yellow rabbit back over with the other old animatronics. Arty stood up and gasped as sweat rolled down his arms and face. He stepped back and let the suit drop to the floor before leaning up against the blue rabbit’s pallet to try catching his breath before beginning the next part of his plan. After a moment's rest, he walked over to the fox animatronic to start lifting the yellow rabbit’s pallet back up against the wall. Which proved to be surprisingly easy when there wasn’t a giant animatronic strapped down to it. He shuffled it around until it was back to where it had originally been sitting, or at least as close to it as Arty could get from memory.

He hoped that Mr. Taylor wouldn’t mind that it was now off-center by a couple of inches, though he figured if asked the simple excuse of accidentally bumping it would clear up any problems. But when he stepped back to reach out for the straps, he suddenly realized that he had another problem to contend with.

“Oh...right...I forgot these things were busted.” groaned Arty as picked up and then dropped one of the broken straps. “How the hell am I going to get this thing tied down now?” He followed up the question by angrily kicking at the pallet, which nearly sent it toppling back to the ground.

Arty yelped in shock and ran to catch the pallet before it was damaged any more than it already had been from the last fall. But right as he put his hands out to catch it, something strong slammed into Arty’s side. The young man was sent flying towards the blue rabbit and struck it hard enough to send it tipping onto the floor with another violent crash. The blue rabbit jerked about before falling lifeless as its yellow counterpart had earlier.

Arty stumbled away from the pallet and was unable to finish taking in what had happened before the same force grabbed hold of his shirt. It jerked him back violently before slamming his back hard against the nearest wall. His cry of pain becoming a startled, desperate gasp for air as pain shot through his already sore back. 

"What the hell?” He coughed before looking down and then up at the now standing tall again yellow rabbit. Its hand was firmly pressed against his chest while also staring down at him with lifeless, yet malicious eyes. The other hand quickly rose up with a mechanical clatter and then began reaching up towards Arty’s face.

Arty screamed and threw himself forward and shoulder-checking the rabbit’s chest. It didn’t send it back far, but it was enough to knock it off balance again. Forcing the rabbit to pull away to try and prevent itself from taking another spill.

Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, Arty charged it again but the rabbit was a quick learner. It stepped to the side just as Arty was about to hit it again and reached out to grab his back. Arty was jerked to a stop before then being tossed away from the rabbit-like a toy thrown by an angry child. Arty was just barely able to finish turning his body mid-air so he wouldn’t smash his face into the floor before he landed hard on his right arm.

Pain surged through his arm as it smacked into the floor, but it was nothing compared to his still stinging backside. Other than the pain, he was otherwise unharmed, allowing him to laugh as he turned back towards the rabbit.

“Nice try cottontail, you throw worse my cousins!” He let his breathing evened out for only a second before scrambling to his feet and making a run for the other end of the storeroom.

There was one thing that he hadn’t counted on though, after everything that he’d been through so far tonight, his energy was more than spent. The pain dulled into aches that spread out across his whole body, significantly slowing down his pace. Arty grit his teeth and continued trying to press onwards just as another sound came echoing out from behind him.

Angry padded footsteps boomed out as the rabbit raced after him. He looked back for only a second and had to hold back a scream when he saw how quickly the suit was moving. While not very fast on its own, Arty’s currently spent state meant that it was able to start catching up with him rather quickly.

Arty gathered up whatever energy he had left to move just fast enough to try and outpace the rabbit. But it wasn’t nearly fast enough as it started speeding up in an attempt to match Arty’s own speed. 

“As soon as I get away from this thing, Mr. Taylor can shove this job where the sun doesn’t shine. I’m not coming back no matter what dad says.” He hissed between gasps as his breathing still screwed up from being slammed against the wall and floor. The fact he was now running for his life didn’t really help much either.

Getting over to the door was going to become rather pointless once the rabbit caught up to him. But trying to lose it amongst the shelves was an even worse idea since he then risked burning out completely. It was then his eyes found themselves focusing on the stairs that he’d been climbing before this whole mess started.

It was a long shot to be sure, but if we could make it up the stairs then he could maybe lock himself away in the offices. Hopefully long enough to buy him some time to regain a little strength. Perhaps then, someone might notice he hadn’t clocked out and come looking for him. At least then, they could distract the rabbit while he got the heck out of dodge.

The thuds from the rabbit’s feet started to become louder, but he kept himself from looking back. He hoped that the rabbit wouldn’t be able to follow him up the stairs as he made a sharp turn towards them. The rabbit’s padded feet shuffling about in surprise as it tried to change course to keep up the chase.

Arty managed to reach the stairs and began ascending them quickly despite his tiredness. Adrenaline rushed through his body, pushing away the pain so he could focus on his escape up the stairs. He’d just about made it halfway when the rabbits’ footsteps reached the stairs and then suddenly stopped. Arty paused only momentarily, but then continued his ascent up with a slightly triumphant feeling rising up amongst the fear that quickly turned into a smug thought at the idea of the rabbit being unable to climb the stairs after him. But that was momentary victory was quickly killed when the entire stairwell violently rattled with a thunderous “boom” rising up from the bottom step.

The sudden movement of the stairs knocked Arty off balance, his feet catching and sliding through the gap between the steps. He was unable to refrain from letting out a scream as cold metal slammed into his already sore ankle. Only by grabbing onto the railing did he prevent himself from falling back down towards the now approaching rabbit.

The weight of its steps shook the stairwell as it began slowly catching up to the prone Arty, who was struggling to pull his foot out due to the pain that was now shooting throughout his leg. The young man let out a string of curse words that were directed down towards his ascending opponent as he freed his foot and tried to continue onward.

But the pain in his leg stopped all plans of him managing to outrun the rabbit. The second he put weight onto it, an intense, almost tear-inducing pain sent him falling back over. He clutched at his ankle and cursed loudly as the rabbit’s shadow cast itself over his body.

“Shit…” Was all Arty got out before the rabbit’s hand snatched the collar of his shirt. Yanking him up high above the railing and face front into the rabbit’s unblinking white eyes. A hot air that almost felt like a breath passed through the suit’s mouth and sent an awful stench right into Arty’s face. The young man gagged, which only served to infuriate the rabbit even further as it twisted about and slammed Arty into the side of the stairs that were attached to the wall. Pinning him down as Arty’s tired eyes met the rabbit’s own.

Arty too tired to even consider putting up a fight against the rabbit and he briefly wondered if the suit had planned on tiring him out before deciding to attack him. He coughed violently and forced a tired smile onto his face.

“O-okay buddy...you win. I’ve been caught so...game over right?” His voice was quiet and pleading, becoming feebler as he continued on. “I’m sorry for...shoving you over and all the mean things I said.”

The suit’s expression remained unchanged as it leaned forward, the old fabric that made up its body crackling as it pressed its face up to Arty’s. Another rush of air blowing into his face as the suits head tilted to the side. As if it were mocking his half-hearted attempts at placation.

Arty went to speak again but found that he was unable to say anything while so close to the rabbits face. The only sound that did come out of him was a quietly pathetic whimper. The suit leaned back and threw its head up before looking back at Arty. The maliciousness returning along with a sense of mockery that sent chills throughout his whole body.

It moved a little to the side, the arm still pinning in place began to develop a tighter grip on his back. Arty watched the suit move away and then looked out at the storeroom. They were just past the halfway point of the stairs and very high up above the storeroom floor. He felt the rabbit’s fingers move, one by one in silent anticipation for what it was about to do.

It took Arty less than half a minute to figure out what it was planning. The rabbit’s face taking on a more ghoulish quality the moment he figured it out and his face went pale. Reveling in the realization of what was about to happen.

The young man threw his hands back and began feebly trying to clamp down on the railing just below him. But the rabbit just raised his arm higher and moved the railing just out of Arty’s reach. Terrified tears began streaming down his face as the rabbit took a step towards the other side of the stairs. His head shaking as he managed to find his voice to0 begin pleading with the rabbit for his life.

"Don’t please! I’m sorry about the throwing comment!” Was all Arty was able to choke up before the suit swung its arm forward and sent him flying over the railing.

In an instant, everything seemed to go numb as Arty’s His mind scrambling to find a solution that might save him while wildly moving his body in a way that could safely absorb the impact when he hit the floor. But fate had dealt a rather cruel hand with how the rabbit had thrown hi, rendering him unable to correct his trajectory before his head slammed into the cold, unforgiving floor below the stairs.

Upon impact, he’d felt a searing white-hot flash of pain. But then everything faded away like snow melting in the sunshine. Blackness descended upon Arty that left him adrift in a sea of nothingness that he was unable to escape and from which he would never return. 

\------  
An enormous hush fell over the storeroom, muffling out any sound that came from within the room that had just been tainted by a touch of death. Even the footsteps of the yellow rabbit seemed muffled as it descended down the staircase to examine what it had done. Arty’s body had come to rest fairly close to the entrance of a row of shelves. His neck twisted at an angle that could only de described as unearthly, with a look of shock eternally etched on his features.

It was something that brought out a bit of delight from within the worn old rabbit. Though it didn’t know exactly why seeing the broken form brought such a feeling. The suit looked him over with uncaring, yet satisfied eyes. Despite what the now-deceased young man had claimed, the rabbit had ultimately proven to be the victory.

But then came the question of what to do with his “prize.” It stooped down to pick up the body by the arm, hauling it’s limp form up so it’s lifeless eyes matched the rabbit’s own. Eternally staring out at everything and yet nothing at the same time. Clouded over with a deathly veil that had it not been for his face, would have masked all emotion.

The rabbit hadn’t long to ponder though, as a sudden whisper of a voice began filling its head. The murmurings of an identity that it no longer knew or would even answer too if it did, that told him that the boy’s body needed to be hidden away from anyone else. It was his prize and his alone to admire.

There was a sense of fear in the advice given to the rabbit, from a worry that was forgotten to time. But with no other ideas presenting themselves, the rabbit decided to follow along with the whispers advice. It silently those Arty’s body over its shoulder before then heading back off into the aisles of shelves. As the sound of its footsteps faded amongst the boxes, the storeroom fell as silent as a tomb. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I see spirits all around me, as I try to understand what makes me do the things I do to everyone around me.  
> And I bet you never knew, I could have regrets for all the things that make you see red.  
> But all I see is purple instead.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it begins, here we are. Finally at the reveal of the Toy Animatronics for this AU. I hope this chapter's worth the wait and that you're not all too shocked at the changes I've made to them.

There was a scarce few occasions where Charlie felt the need to fuss over her appearance. Most of the time her outfit decisions were based on three factors, occasion, weather, and her own feelings while she was getting ready. All other variables could be filed under different factors. Because of her internal organization, she’d never spent more than five minutes picking out her clothes.

This was why the fact she took so long tonight only added to her already growing mixture of frustration and anxiety. With what she was planning to attend, the particulars of her appearance shouldn't have been the most important thing on her mind. But still, her brain continually had made her go through all of her clothes until at last, she’d finally settled on an outfit that she considered “good enough.”

What she’d settled on a button-up shirt from the back of her closet, a pair of slacks she last wore on one of her dates with John, and a warm sweater over top the shirt. A slightly haphazard culmination of clothing that perfectly complemented her scattered thoughts.

She’d briefly considered the thought that the indecision in regards to her outfit had probably been a half-hearted final attempt by her own mind to stop her from going to Freddy’s again. But it was much too late and too poor of an effort to stop her from going now. 

Ever since her accidental meeting with Rick, Charlie had swung back and forth like a tolling church bell on whether or not she should take up his offer to attend Freddy’s grand opening. There would be days where she had her mind made up and on other days she’d switch around three times while just walking from one end of Jeremy's store to the other. The battle would ultimately turn fruitless as both her curiosity and concern joined up against her other feelings to win. It was something that her therapist would’ve described as a “terrible mental cocktail.” Charlie also knew her therapist would have been firmly against her going to the new Freddy’s, to begin with, event and might have even succeeded in talking her out of it.

Knowingly going to a place that might trigger her PTSD from the original Freddy’s was probably high up on her list of bad ideas, right next to breaking into the original. But she continually told herself that it wouldn't be like the original; It was a new place with a different person in charge. It would be full of children running around while their parents stood by watching them as they talked and ordered pizza for when they were done playing. It would have all the joy that the original location had lost along with the lives of several children which resulted in her father’s mechanical wonders turning into her nightmares.

But thinking about those terrible experiences even briefly allowed the worst of the memories to spill back into her mind. Her body became stiff as she reached out and clamped down on her arm. Her grip tightening around the scar Foxy had given her until her nails dug through her shirt and into her skin. The jolt of pain snapping her out of the memories and she let out a shaky breath before wiping away at her eyes. She then took a moment to try stabilizing herself and took a few deep breaths before she was sufficiently calmed down enough to snatch up her keys and head for the bedroom door. The room had become rather stuffy, at least in her opinion. 

She opened the door and exited into the living room, her eyes meeting John’s as he looked up from the novel he’d been patiently reading on the couch. He gave her a hesitant smile and then stood up and walked towards her.

“Hey, are you all ready to go?” He asked softly with a voice that was just as gentle as the touch of his hand. Charlie gave firmly squeezed his hand while letting out a shaky sigh.

“Yeah, I am if you are…” She didn’t wait for him to answer before starting towards the front door, releasing John’s hand even as he followed silently behind her.

No further words were spoken as the pair walked across their apartment, even as Charlie’s heart continually became heavier like that of a shackled prisoner heading for the gallows after their last meal. One who wanted to decry their fate yet remained silent out of fear.

When they reached the door, Charlie extended her arm to grab the knob only to pause midway. Her outstretched hand turned into a fist as she spun around to look pleadingly at John.

“Are you sure you want to come with me?” She shuffled her feet before looking down at them while trying to avert her gaze from his own out of unnecessary guilt for him wanting to accompany her to the opening. 

“Of course, I’m not just going to let you do something like this alone.” John reached out and stroked the side of Charlie’s cheek with his thumb. Causing her to flush and lean into it before gently taking hold with his wrist with a deep sigh.

“This whole thing probably isn’t a good idea.” She whispered while turning her head further into his hand.

“Probably not,” John said with a blunt sigh. “But I don’t think either of our curiosities will be satisfied unless we go there at least once...” The words were spoken carefully with concern laced in his voice. Charlie murmured something unintelligibly into John’s hand before pulling away from him and turning back to the door. Her hand stayed firmly wrapped around John’s wrist as she reached out and opened the door. John moved his hand back to intertwine their fingers and as they made their way out to the car. The cool evening air slightly calmed their fraying nerves as they climbed in and set off down the road. Though even with their earlier moment of shared reassurance, the tension quickly returned like an intrusive pest. The twenty-minute drive felt more like two hours as the car rolled along the streets of Brookhaven in silence.

As they approached the area where the park was, Charlie’s grip on the steering wheeled continually became tighter as she fought the urge to whip the car around so they could just get as far away from Freddy’s as possible. But whatever chances that she could have taken were rendered moot once soon they saw the entrance to the park along with a large group of people that were milling around it.

She slowed the car to barely a crawl as a few families started crossing the road in front of them. Both she and John watched them cross the road, but only John continued to follow them with his eyes as they walked into the park. Despite their silence, both of them were sharing the same worrisome thought.

It was John who put the thought into words when he asked, “Do you think all these people are going to Freddy’s?” Charlie didn’t reply, as she chose to focus solely on the road ahead. She drove forward slowly for barely a minute before having to stop to allow another family to cross the road.

This time Charlie watched them a bit more closely than the other families that had crossed before. It was a family of two parents with five kids of intermixed ages who were all moving about in a disorderly manner. The two adults had their hands full trying to keep them all in check. It reminded her of the group she and the others had formed as kids; all of them running around with her and Cartlon’s dads doing their best to control them all.

A faint smile appeared on Charlie’s face as she retreated into some of her happier memories, but it wasn’t long before the family had all crossed the street. Her simile faltered as n she once more began driving along in silence. But it didn't take long for John to break it as he glanced out the window in the direction of Freddy’s. He inhaled deeply and pointed towards the gathering crowd of people.

“I think we might want to consider walking the rest of the way.” He said nervously, causing and Charlie turned her head to see what he meant. She then flinched upon seeing the sizable crowd that was making their way towards the restaurant.

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea...”

It surprisingly didn’t take them a long time to locate a place to park as almost everyone else that was attending the opening seemed to have lived nearby and thus decided to walk to Freddy’s. Consequently, the place Charlie had chosen to park wasn’t all that much farther away from it either.

The engine hadn’t even begun cooling before they’d hopped out of the car and started walking in the same direction as everyone else. John quickly moved up next to Charlie and took hold of her hand with another reassuring squeeze. It was one which Charlie didn’t return.

Soon they found themselves walking amongst dozens of other people, mostly more families with kids that were either already tired or rowdy. Their side by side walking formation becoming a single-file march with their hands still conjoined like a life-line to each other while they weaved through the crowd.

As they got closer to Freddy’s, they both began hearing the distant sound of music drifting through the air. Though neither Charlie nor John were able to make out the song, it sounded like an upbeat, yet generic pop song with no lyrics.

The music soon became loud and early drowned out the conversations of everyone else nearby. Charlie slowed her pace as the restaurant came into view, now lit up like a distant beacon with lights all around the building shining into the night sky. The sign over the top was now fully illuminated with the brightest part being the cartoonish depiction of still motionlessly beckoning Freddy Fazbear. More music blared from speakers situated on a temporary stage off to the side of the building's entrance.

They attempted to move closer but found that the crowd became significantly thicker the more they moved up. It eventually came to a point where moving closer was impossible. So Charlie instead shuffled them over to a somewhat clear spot to wait until everything started.

Once John was next to her again, Charlie moved closer and rested her head against his shoulder. Mostly in an effort to stay as close to him as possible, but also to seek at least a little extra comfort Her hand returning the reassuring squeeze that he’d given to her earlier with earnest. 

“Did Rick ever tell you what time this was supposed to start?” John whispered to her. Charlie quickly thought back to all her conversations with Rick, and then shook her head with a frown.

“No, I forgot to ask him…” She said, a little disappointed in her lack of inquiry. They took a shared glance around the ever-growing crowd. While most of the families seemed fine, more than a few parents were looking irritated about the wait.

“But with all the kids showing up and with how cold it is, I doubt he’d want to keep them all out here for too long. Looks like there’s a lot more than what he was expecting...” Charlie murmured before leaning back into John. “Turning into a popsicle isn’t something that’s high up on my list of life goals, so I hope it’ll start soon.”

As if responding to Charlie’s comment, the doors to the pizzeria slowly creaked open as Rick Taylor stepped out followed by a few other people dressed in suits. Once they were all outside they began walking towards the stage in an orderly march.

Just like Charlie, all of them were dressed in business casual attire but with the addition of warm jackets over their clothes. The noise had drawn John’s attention and he squinted while trying to figure out which of the men was Rick. Charlie looked up at what he was doing and then subtly tapped on his shoulder.

“That one. With the glasses and dark hair,” Charlie subtly pointed towards Rick he walked onto the stage and pulled a microphone out of his stand. The other men stood behind Rick as he flicked the microphone on and taped it with his finger.

“Hello Hello?” His voice boomed from the speakers and echoed around the area. Those who weren't already paying attention now had their eyes and ears trained on Rick. He let out an almost giddy smile before continuing on.

“Heh, It’s great to see so many people out here tonight, but I know most of you are probably starting to get pretty cold so I’ll try to keep this nice and short. I would like to thank you all for coming and welcome you to the all-new Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria and Entertainment Center. Now, how about we all go inside and let Freddy himself tell you all about his home.”

He gestured over to doors which now swung fully open, accompanied by the sound of dramatic music. Upon hearing the invitation to enter, the crowd began moving forward. Charlie felt John’s grip on her hand tighten as they moved along with the crowd.

Before too long they passed through the doors and found themselves entering a massive room. Despite the dimmed lights, Charlie was able to make out many rows of tables along with a few booths lining the walls. From somewhere in the room, an employee called for everyone to spread out.

People began moving around the tables, some even taking the opportunity to pull out the chairs and sit down. But eventually, everyone that had been outside the restaurant was now safely indoors and after the last few people were inside the main doors swung closed. Leaving the room in darkness as the already dim lights turned off. Before anyone’s eyes could fully adjust, two large spotlights pointed down onto a large show stage that had been hidden by the darkness. 

Unlike the original Freddy’s stage, this was set into the wall with a large purple curtain draped in front of it. The spotlights moved towards the middle of the stage as the curtains were slowly pulled open to reveal a large animatronic bear with its head pointed downward.

Charlie flinched as she took in the sight of this new Freddy. He was much rounder than the original, perhaps in an effort to make him look softer. But the lack of any fur caused that effect to be lessened along with his square muzzle set between two rosy cheeks that almost made him look more like a chipmunk than a bear. He did still have the top hat and bow tie, but they were now cast in a rich purple along with a two button vest covering his chest.

To Charlie, it came off as more of a parody than an actual attempt at replication. The bear stepped forward and raised its head up before using his free and to point to the crowd.

“Why hello there everyone! Welcome to my home. I hope you’re all ready for a good time!” The bear’s voice was higher pitched, yet laid back like that of a stereotypical “cool” person. “My name is Freddy Fazbear, though I bet you all figured that out from the sign outside.” 

“Is this real?” John whispered to Charlie, who could only gawk at the scene before her as the bear continued speaking.

“Now I’m sure you all are wondering why I’ve chosen to open up my home to you all. That’s because I wanted to give all the good kids a safe and fun place to play!” The sound of children cheering filled the room, though no one could tell if it was actually from the children that present or if it was a recorded effect.

“But before we all have some fun, I think you all need to meet some friends of mine!” The bear spread his hands out the sides as the curtain opened winder and some more stock upbeat music began playing. From the left side of the stage, another spotlight shone down on a bright blue and white rabbit. The new Bonnie was much slimmer than his original counterpart. Just like Freddy, he had no fur but a plastic casing made to resemble it. While his muzzle was better fitting on his face, he had two very prominent buck teeth jutting out from the top of his mouth. His bow tie was also now gold instead of red, with the addition of a gold jacket that didn’t blend well with the cherry red guitar that he was “strumming”

“Hey everyone! Nice to meet ya, I’m Bonnie the guitar playing bunny!” The rabbit moved the guitar upwards and strummed it while a basic guitar riff played from an unseen speaker. Like Freddy he too had a high pitched voice, but he contained more of a southern drawl to it. “I hope you’re all ready to have some fun and rock out!”

“Hey, don’t forget me!” Yet another spotlight came down to Freddy’s right, revealing the new version of Chica. Out of all the characters, she had the most radical changes. She was the slimmest of the bunch and her cupcake companion was gone. Replaced by a silver tambourine She still sported her bib, which now read “Let’s Party” but also sported a bright pink skirt around her waist.

“Like we could ever forget about you, Chica!” The new Bonnie called out. The robotic chicken rattled her tambourine while waving to the crowd.

“As my friend Bonnie stated, my name’s Chica. I just looove pizza so much and I know you all will too!”

“What do you say, guys, should we give these nice folks a show for coming out here tonight?” New Freddy twisted his head back and forth while the other two animatronics shouted in agreement.

“You betcha Freddy, I’m ready to rock and roll!” New Bonnie shouted with another guitar riff.

“Of course, let’s get this show on the road!” New Chica said with another jingle of her tambourine

“Then let’s party!” New Freddy threw a fist into the air and the whole band launched into a song. “ _Cause it’s Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, for kid’s it’s number one! Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, where fantasy meets fun!”  
_

This time the kids in the crowd really did cheer and began trying to sing along. Though many of them had trouble, some of their parents sang along to help them. The showroom finally seemed to light up with a warm energy that was not shared by Charlie or John.

John’s jaw had gone slack as he stared wide-eyed at the stage while Charlie covered her mouth with her free hand. Both of them were frozen in a joined state of shock at the scene before them. Neither of them wanted to continue watching the show yet finding that they were unable to look away.

But there was another feeling that rose up from beneath Charlie’s shock. A surprising feeling of melancholy brought on from watching these new versions of her father’s works. Back when she’d been a little girl, everyone had always told her how much her father’s creations had been “one of a kind.” But that time had now long since passed.

The mechanical wonders her father had spent so much time working on could now be easily replicated. Improved upon even, as she could see that this batch moved a lot more fluidly than the ones back in Hurricane. Despite not looking as good to her, they were definitely more advanced than any of her father’s robots.

‘ _Why wouldn't they be? The rest of the world’ moved on while Freddy’s was stuck in 1985’ She_ shifted her body closer to John as the song finally drew to a close. The crowd cheered wildly as Freddy gave them all one final wave.

“Thanks for singing along everyone! Have a fantastic day and enjoy yourselves because here at Freddy’s the kids are always number one!” With that, the curtains closed over the three animatronics as Rick climbed onto this stage and spoke once again. 

“Wasn’t that a wonderful show everyone? Let’s hear it again for Freddy and his amazing band!” Another cheer arose from the crowd, more the children than the adults this time. But it was still sizable enough to be nearly deafening

Rick laughed as the cheering died down and he motioned for the rest of the lights to come on. He then pointed over towards what appeared to be the entrance to the kitchen.

“We’d like now to offer everyone a chance to enjoy a sampling of what is to come with our special opening night pizza buffet.” Right on cue, the kitchen doors opened and a group of workers began wheeling out a long table that was stacked high with boxes of pizza. “Everyone feel free to dig in!”

The crowd began to move again, but this time there was more of a split than before. With the people furthest away from the pizza buffet hanging back, while everyone closest to it rushed to get a few slices. Charlie and John were among those that hung back. Not that they were very interested in the pizza, to begin with.

Whatever appetites they might have had were long gone after seeing the animatronic show. Neither of them knew what to say or even think about what they’d just experienced, almost feeling like they’d both had a terrible fever dream. It was only when Rick approached them that they broke from their stupor. The smile on the older man’s face was almost infectious, but it didn’t extend to the couple.

“Charlie, I’m so glad to see you were able to make it.” He looked over at John and squinted as if trying to recall something. “And uh...I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you yet. Are you the uh… boyfriend Charlie spoke of?”

“Yeah, that’s me,” John said, extending a friendly handshake in Rick’s direction. “John Barnett.” Rick took hold and shook John’s hand as a look of clarity came over his face.

“Barnett...say you wouldn't happen to be one of Dennis Barnett’s boys would you?” The older man questioned, not noticing John’s slight wince.

“Y-Yeah, I am.” Was all he could say before Rick clasped his shoulder with an ever-widening grin.

“Ah, I thought I recognized that name!” He eyed John up and down with another laugh, “Yeah, you used to run around with Charlie when you both were kids. I remember you now, Ya ‘know it’s really amazing you two stayed close after all these years.”

For the first time since arriving at Freddy's, a loose smile appeared on Charlie’s face as she squeezed John’s hand. “Yeah… it really is,” she said.

“That’s great, I’m glad to see both of you doing really well. Oh uh, by the way, did you two enjoy the show?

Charlie and John quickly exchanged frank looks as they scrambled to give Rick an answer that wouldn't be insulting. After a minute, John finally had collected his thoughts enough to give Rick an answer.

“It was pretty good and I think the kids really enjoyed it,” John said, making a show of rubbing at his ear. “At least if their reactions were anything to go by.” 

“Yeah, that’s probably the most important part.” Rick looked from the couple and back over towards the children milling about with their parents. He then suddenly glanced back towards the entrance with a pensive look and then inhaled a little sharply.

“Would either of you say it’s as good as the old shows back in Hurricane?”

The question was a little sudden, but Charlie knew it would be asked. If not by Rick then by someone else like Jessica or another friend. Even before coming to r even see the show, she’d been formulating an answer to it.

“There’s not a lot I can say really. I don’t remember much about the show itself as I remember the band.” It was a rehearsed but true statement because there really wasn't a lot she remembered. All of the songs that the band had played slowly blurred together over time. She couldn’t even recall the individual voices anymore, only that her father had done almost all the voices by himself except for Chica who she thought might have been either her aunt.

“But the show’s definitely got its own feel to it, which is what I think is really important.”

“Ah, well that’s actually a pretty profound viewpoint there Charlie.” Rick placed his hand to his chin in quiet contemplation, but when he looked past them into the distance a concerned look quickly overtook his face. “Uh… I’ve got to run and do something, I hope you’ll both try and sample some pizza.”

“We’ll try if there’s any left,” John said, looking back at the growing crowd by the table.

“Plenty to go around, I think. I’ll check on that after I’m done with uh...some important business” Rick finished his sentence with a mumble quickly before moving past the couple and back over towards the pizzeria entrance. John and Charlie both simultaneously relaxed and pressed a little further into each other.

“Well… that went a lot better than expected.” John nervously laughed. Charlie nodded while loosening the grip on his hand.

She didn’t know why the questions had caused her to tense up, but it may have just been due to Rick’s slight over-eagerness to compare this place to her father’s. Something that Charlie felt was impossible. He could build a thousand Freddy’s that were just like this one but only had been made by Henry. A fact even Rick himself seemed keenly aware of.

She felt a bump against her shoulder and looked back at John. Who had his head turned in the direction Rick had gone in with a hardened ace.

“Something wrong?”

“Maybe...depends on how bad you think Rick Taylor walking off with a policeman is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awww, new Freddy's is barely a day old and it's already swarming with cops. Feels like 1985 all over again. 
> 
> See you all next chapter, stay safe out there, and have a great weekend!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright! Another long weekend has come and gone, but that doesn't stop me from posting these! I hope you all enjoy...and do try not to wake the baby...

“A cop? Are you sure?”

“I mean, I haven't had any run-ins with the Brookhaven police myself, but it sure looked like a cop,” John said as Charlie spun around to see for herself, but found that Rick and the supposed policeman had already disappeared. She looked back to John questioningly, but he merely pointed towards a hallway that wasn’t far from the main doors.

“They were heading towards that hallway when I saw them, Rick looked like he wanted to get the cop away from the other guests,” he whispered. Charlie turned her gaze back over to the hallway and then bit down onto her lip as the dread she’d been feeling earlier returned with a vengeance. Despite her brain’s attempts to quell it with a few rationalizations, it failed to calm her down. But this didn’t stop her from trying to pick out the most logical explanation for the cop’s presence that she then spoke aloud to John.

“Do you think that...he could just be here for some kind of demonstration or a last-minute inspection?” She knew it was a reach, a desperate grasp at the normality which had begun slipping through her fingers. Hoping that perhaps her gut feelings were wrong, but John’s answer would only unintentionally reinforce her fears.

“Hate to say it but I doubt it was the case. Rick looked pretty upset when he saw the cop walking in. Besides, any sort of safety inspection should have been done long before tonight.” He squeezed Charlie's hand a little tighter in an effort to provide her more comfort. Though with her growing anxiousness it was only a symbolic gesture at best.

“Did you manage to catch anything they said?” She asked, despite knowing the question was a stupid one. As expected, John’s reply was a slow shake of his head in the negative.

“I’m lucky enough just to hear you over all this, let alone someone halfway across the room. Though I didn’t need to hear them know that Rick was pretty upset about something.”

Charlie looked away and anxiously bit her bottom lip while trying to fight off her once again growing curiosity. Constantly reminding herself that whatever was going on with the new Freddy’s was Rick’s business and his alone. This wasn’t the original Freddy’s where she had an almost free roam of the place because due to being the owner’s daughter.

Now she was just Charlie Emily Baker, another face in the crowd of people milling about the showroom. Anything that went on behind the scenes wasn’t her problem, even back in Hurricane it had never been her problem. She’d always been happy to leave the boring work that made Freddy’s a magical place to the adults while she enjoyed the outcome. 

‘ _But if that’s true then why are you so worried about it?’_

For once, her mind seemed to be on her side in this matter. Something that Charlie would have normally been grateful for and yet she couldn't shake the awful feeling that something was wrong. She’d had a similar feeling back in the original Freddy’s where nothing seemed wrong on the surface, but deep down there’d been something that was poisoning the very ground that the restaurant stood on.

That didn't mean there was anything wrong in this location. Yet, she couldn't help but feel like there was something pulling at her mind. A faint voice calling out, begging for her to investigate, so find out what was going on. But... the thought felt... strange. Like it wasn't her own, but it fed off her growing curiosity and spread through her mind like a fog, reaching into every corner until it was all she could think about.

Her curiosity ate away at her resolve until she finally caved to it and recognized that she wouldn’t just be able to walk away from this without checking it out. Her mind going back to her first conversation with Rick and what he’d said to her about the truck driver. How’ he’d driven all the way from Utah with what she’d assumed was her father’s animatronics.

While Charlie doubted that they were still active after what she’d done to Dave, she felt as though she needed to know that the cop’s arrival had nothing to do with the original animatronics. Perhaps that might allow her to get over the curiosity and move on with her life knowing that whatever happened with Freddy’s wasn’t her problem anymore.

After a reluctant exhale she tapped on John’s hand to get his attention. Once he looked at her again she gave him a nervous smile while tilting her head towards the hallway.

“Wanna play Hardy Boys and find out what’s up?” she asked, forcing out some uneasy laughter along with the joke. John raised an eyebrow but gave her an unsteady nod.

“Sure, though I always saw you as more of a Nancy Drew type rather than a Hardy Boy.”

“Well, I found the Hardy Boys to be more fun than her.”

“Nancy Drew’s fun too…” John mumbled before looking away, causing Charlie’s smile to become a genuine smirk as they started across the room. Keeping close to the walls so they wouldn’t have to go through the tightly packed crowd and attract unwanted attention by needing to push their way through it. But the further they trekked along the more nervous Charlie became, especially when she noticed that the hallway Rick had gone down was nearly shrouded in darkness. There were only a few scattered lights illuminating the hallway, like torches lining the walls of some ancient castle.

A quick look at the showroom revealed that all the other hallways in the restaurant were equally dimmed. Though Charlie could faintly make out a few employees working their way through the darkened areas. No doubt trying to prepare them to open later on in the night. 

_'There might be some down this hallway too.’_ Charlie thought to herself before pulling John closer to the crowd of people near the buffet. Once they were immersed into the throng, she turned and gestured to the dim hallways.

“I don’t think the rest of the place is open yet…” She whispered while John looked around with a surprised look.

“Huh...I guess so but. That’s pretty strange given it’s supposed to be a ‘grand opening.”

“Well...maybe they’re planning on opening the rest of the place up once everyone’s done stuffing themselves with pizza,” Charlie said and quickly looked around for any employees that might notice them. Aside from the ones she could see in the other hallways, there were a few idling around the show area. Almost all of them were too preoccupied with customers to notice them though. But that still didn’t rule out the possibility that there were more around than the ones she was seeing. 

"If we're going to do this we need to move as quickly as possible...” She didn’t look back to see if John had heard her. The increasing pressure from him squeezing her hand was more than enough of an answer. She looked around at the closest employees before holding up her free hand to begin counting down with her fingers. Slowly lowering each one so John would know when she was ready to move.

Once the employee's attention was diverted elsewhere, she closed her hand before pulling John away from the crowd. Hurrying as quietly as possible over to the hallway and ducking into the darkness before anyone could see them.

Charlie pressed herself against the nearest wall and exhaled in relief. The nervously half-hearted smile was now replaced with a full one. It felt fun to do that, running around and playing detective like they were kids again. Even if it had only been for a brief moment, she sensed that l John felt the same way. Despite their faces now being shrouded in darkness. 

They both sighed and Charlie looked back to do a final check before they started off along the hallway. Doing their best to keep close to the walls and in the shadows as possible as the sounds of the party became fainter with every step they took away from the showroom. Soon it all became little more than a background noise, covered up by the sounds of their own footfalls echoing along the hallway. After a couple of minutes, Charlie slowed herself to a crawl.

“Oh boy...here comes the hard part.” She sighed while realizing that wasn’t any sign of life in the hallway. Almost as if it had never been used by anyone before them. All that she could see ahead was an expanse of tiles that stretched out into the seemingly unending gloom. 

Although she could make out a few doors and what appeared to be the entrance of another party room. The area around them was almost as lifeless as the original Freddy’s. The only sound is the creaking of a little sign that hung above the entrance to the Party Room. Charlie squinted, but was able to make just a single word, “Corner.”

She went to move closer but suddenly went stiff as she heard a voice coming from the door nearest to the party room. It was faint, but she was able to tell that it was Rick Taylor’s voice. Now completely devoid of happiness he’d earlier displayed and filled with anger.

She looked back at John and led him over to the door. Positioning them so they could hear the conversation without letting Rick know they were there. Just as they’d gotten settled, they both jumped at the sound of Rick slapping something down onto his desk with a lot of force.

“It’s hardly your fault Mr. Taylor,” said an unfamiliar, yet reassuring voice that they assumed belonged to the cop. “Given what we discovered it’s no wonder he’d omit his previous employment.”

“That’s something I should have found when I hired him,” Rick said disparagingly. “It either means that he was really good at covering his tracks or I’m a terrible judge of character”

“Well until he does something else, I’m afraid that there’s not much more we’re able to do,” The cop said. “As far as we know he's vanished from the face of the earth after the robbery,”

The sound of a chair scooting back made Charlie and John stiffen. But it was followed up by the sound of Rick slumping down, his clothes rubbing loudly against the leather “You said that he was fired by his last employer for “assault?”

“Well, from the way Mr. Fitzgerald described it was more like a temper tantrum that had been preceded by a lengthy period of harassment. The culmination being the ‘assault’, which consisted of him, throwing store products at the employee he’d been harassing.”

Charlie went pale at the cop’s words and had to hold back a shocked gasp. _‘They’re talking about Arty.’_ the last part of her thought almost slipped out into words, but she stopped herself by biting down on her lip. John looked at her worriedly but she tried giving him a dismissive wave to show she was alright. Despite both of them knowing it was a lie.

“So...they didn’t report him to you guys for this?” A slightly more frustrated Rick asked.

“According to Mr. Fitzgerald, the employee in question didn’t want to press charges. No reason was given as to why.”

“Maybe if they had I wouldn't be in this mess,” Rick grumbled with an annoyed huff, his remark unknowingly causing Charlie to feel guilty. She could feel John’s worried eyes glancing her way and she did her best to ignore them.

 _‘I’ll be fine.’_ She lied inwardly, before then whispering it aloud to John.

If Rick had indeed hired Arty then that was his problem and not hers. She was already regretting the decision to come and this new tidbit about Arty having been working here only furthered her desire to leave. But before she could relay that desire to John, the officer said something that made her heartbeat come to a jarring stop.

"Now when you made the initial report you said that the suit he’d stolen was dangerous. Can you clarify how dangerous it is?"

“Oh uh… well, the thing is that Spring-Bonnie is only really dangerous if someone is wearing it because of how it works and its overall age.” Rick said. Charlie suddenly tensed up, her senses slipped away and being replaced by numbness. She withdrew from the door and the conversation and closed a hand over her chest. Her breaths became shallow as thoughts scattered about her head. Rattling around like a jar of marbles being shaken by a child.

 _'Spring-Bonnie… that was Dave’s suit… Arty stole Dave’s suit...‘_ The thoughts slammed into one another and intensified as the negative emotions brought on by Arty’s actions meshed with her memories from the year prior. They then mixed in with her lingering fears and anxieties about the new Freddy’s until it all formed into a wave of negativity that struck her unawares. Everything seemed to be happening all at once and sending her mind reeling back from the shock. All her senses firing off at once, trying to alert her to some all-encompassing danger. She was afraid of everything yet couldn't identify one source in particular. She told her body to grab John and run out of the restaurant but it refused to listen. Rooting her into place in a now uncomfortable kneeling position. Each breath that she took became more sharp and shallow than the last. 

Charlie?” John whispered as he watched Charlie suddenly collapse to her knees. Her body shuddered violently before she placed a hand to her head as the shakes became more frequent with each breath.

“Shit.” John cursed and started glancing about the area. He knew from past experiences that she needed fresh air and a calm atmosphere. But he doubted there was anywhere they could go in Freddy’sthat would suit their needs.

His eyes settled on the room they’d spotted earlier, marked with the little sign above the door that read “Corner” As with the hallway there were no lights in the room, John could just barely see some chairs that had been already set up sitting alone in the dark. It was far from ideal but it would be better than dragging her back down the hallway. Trying to move Charlie that far during one of her panic attacks would make it even worse.

“Hey Charlie, do you want to go sit down?” John asked while moving his arms slowly around her shoulders. Despite the intensity of her shakes, Charlie managed to give him a rather jerky nod. John then fully wrapped his arms around her and slowly helped her stand up. Keeping his arms around her as they began moving into the Party Room. Occasionally, he’d make a quick glance back to Rick’s office door. Attuning his ears to try and see if they’d heard them but that was abandoned when he felt a sharp pain in his arms. 

John didn't even need to look to know that it was from Charlie’s fingernails digging into his skin. He didn’t try to pry her away either and instead, he pulled her even closer to his body. “Easy Charlie.” He said soothingly and tucked her head underneath his.

They entered the room and John carefully guided his girlfriend towards the closest chair. Her shakes were becoming shorter, but increasing in number as he helped her sit down. When he’d gotten her to sit down, John kneeled so as to be at her eye level. But once he’d done that he felt his heart sink upon seeing her terrified expression.

There were tears spilling down her pale cheeks as her breathing became more rapid and harsh. Her arms pulled from John’s and wrapped themselves around her chest. Her fingernails dug deeply into her shoulders as she began partially curling up in her seat. Seeing her like this always broke John’s heart. But experience had thankfully taught him what to do to make it better.

“Charlie, look at me please,” he whispered. Charlie didn’t move aside from her shakes but then she slowly turned her head in his direction.

He reached out to carefully pull her hands away from her body and took hold of them in a manner that allowed him to stroke her wrists with his thumbs. Charlie’s own hands clenched tight around his, squeezing them until her knuckles turned white. Despite this also hurting his own hands, John pushed through the pain and continued speaking softly to her.

“Focus on me, Charlie.” He whispered while continuing to stroke her wrists. The intensity of her shakes seemed to decrease, but they didn’t stop altogether. John looked up into her eyes and breathed slowly.

“Follow my lead, can you do that?” He asked and then took another deep breath. This time she was able to give a slight nod before making a very quick inhale of her own. But it was too deep and John shook his head before motioning for her to exhale. “Gotta start slow, don’t go too quick.”

“Okay,” Charlie quickly said through a raspy gasp.

John once again started leading her through the breathing routine, though it was a very slow process. But every time Charlie failed, John would only whisper encouragement before they started again. After What felt like an hour, Charlie’s breathing began to finally even out.

Although she was still shaking, it was more of light shivering than a violent shudder. As her vision un-blurred, she found herself looking into John’s supportive face, to which she gave him a weak smile before burying her face into his shoulder.

She wanted to say something, to thank him but she found herself unable to make more than let out a barely audible wheeze.

“Just take it easy,” John whispered as he started stroking her back. Charlie sighed before suddenly letting out a groan as she realized how sore she was now feeling. It was something she’d experienced after almost every panic attack, but it was never easy to recover from. After a minute of comfort, she felt well enough to pull away from John. She leaned back in her seat and then slumped downward. Wincing from the pain as she did so.

“Ah, I hate those things.” She hoarsely mumbled. John placed a hand on her knee and tilted her head back up.

“Hey, this one wasn’t as bad as some of the others so you’re getting a little better at coming out of them.” His encouragement only received a weary smile that was accompanied by a humorless laugh.

“Only thanks to you being here.” She looked to the side and squinted at the darkness that surrounded her. Her eyes needed to adjust to the sudden lack of light. “Speaking of here… where did you take me?”

“We’re in the party room that is a bit down the hall from Rick’s office. It was closer than trying to run you all the way up front,” John said as he looked around the room as well.

Charlie glanced in the direction of Rick’s office before looking down at her feet. “You don’t think they heard us do you?”

“It’s been about,” John looked down at his watch and then sighed, “sixteen minutes since your panic attack started. If they did notice then they’re waiting a long time to come out and bust us.

“Sixteen…” Charlie whispered with a wince. “I thought you said it wasn’t as bad as the others…”

“It wasn’t nearly as bad as the others though so that’s what’s important to me." John comfortingly rubbed her knee before standing up. Let’s just take a quick breather before trying to get out of here. Best to wait until Rick and that cop leave so they don't spot us.”

Charlie silently nodded in agreement and watched as John walked to the edge of the room to watch Rick’s door before taking a look around. Though it was dark, she was able to see that the room was filled mostly with tables. But littered about it were a few curious items she couldn't quite see.

Several of them looked like a bunch of scattered boxes, maybe a few game cabinets as well. But what quickly got her full attention was what looked to be something covered in a cloth tarp. Although most of it's features were obscured by the tap, Charlie knew that it was another probably yet another animatronic that had yet to join its companions on stage.

Because of the giant cloth covering most of it's body, she was unable to make out any details aside from what looked to be a pointed pair of ears sticking up from the sides of its head. But the shape that the ears seemed to take was familiar enough to cause a breakout of goosebumps along her arms as she looked at the pink and white accordion and stuffed parrot that rested on a crate next to the covered-up animatronic 

_'They're building a new version of Foxy too...'_ Charlie bit down hard on her lower lip as she resisted the urge to grab at the wound on her arm. The last thing she needed right now was another panic attack so soon after the last one. But keeping herself calm while around all these cheap imitations of her father’s creations was easier said than done. 

Charlie hugged her legs close to her chest and tried her best to shut out the world around her. Hopeful that she and John would be able to leave sooner than later so they could finally put this whole experience behind them. But right as she was getting into one of her breathing exercises, her eyes in an attempt to relax. But right as she started, her eyes were forced back open as the faint sound of a music box began drifting through the air. Charlie jumped in her seat and caused the chair to make a loud scooting sound from the sudden movement.

John looked back at her in alarm and was about to say something when the door to Rick’s office suddenly swung open with force. He pulled himself back into the shadows as Rick exited out with a look of curiosity and frustration etched across his face. His gaze hardened as he peered into the darkened room, trying to look for something as the music began increasing in volume. The officer soon followed out and looked more puzzled than Rick.

“Is something wrong Mr. Taylor?”

“Yeah, this room isn’t supposed to be open for another few days…” Was all Rick was able to say before the cop began to reach for something on his belt. In the darkness, John and Charlie both simultaneously mouthing their own expletives.

Charlie was the one who acted first by jumping up from her seat and hurrying beneath one of the tables. She was too far away from John to run to him without being seen. As such, she pulled down one of the tablecloths so it was almost covering her entire body. Hoping that it would be enough to hide her from sight.

Consequently, she wasn’t able to see what John was doing to hide. But there was little time to think about that as the beam from the cop’s flashlight shone into the room. Passing over her tablecloth cover like a lighthouse warding away a ship in a storm.

Charlie pulled back and did her best to avoid bumping the table. Not that it would matter all that much as the increasingly loud music could probably cover up even the loudest infants wailing. She watched the beam steadily move about the room as Rick and the cop slowly made their way around the tables. The sound of the officer’s belt jingling mixed with the music caused Charlie to begin developing a massive headache.

She heard Rick say something inaudible over the music before the flashlight beam moved across the room to focus on a giant gift box that was sat in the farthest corner of the room. On the side of the box was a large crank that was slowly rotating around as if moved by an unseen hand.

The cop and Rick moved past Charlie’s table, unaware of her presence. The pulled back tablecloth on the other side allowed her a clear view of both them and the box. The officer looked ready to say something before everyone in the room jumped as the gift box’s lid suddenly flew open. Charlie covered her ears when she saw the officer’s hand grabbing onto his firearm. He upholstered it and then pointed it towards the box as they all watched an impossibly lanky figure rise up from it.

Charlie was more than a little shocked when she laid eyes on the slim black and white animatronic that was revealed by the flashlight. Although calling it an animatronic was generous as it looked like none she’d ever seen before. It had striped patterns going down its arms and legs along with a row of white buttons that were nearly hidden by a brilliantly red vest that was accentuated with a little red bowtie. But the most striking feature was the face, which while made of plastic like the ones out in the main area. Yet it was also much older looking than even the ones from the old Pizzeria. It’s rosy red dimples and the purple paint streaks looked somewhat faded in the light. Although that could have just been the angle at which she was seeing it.

But angles did nothing to diminish the fact that the animatronic was casting quite the loom over the entire room. It hung in the air from unseen strings like a lifeless corpse, face lowered down with an almost judgmental glare. The sight of it made Charlie both sick and yet… intrigued.

It was then she suddenly heard the little voice from earlier again. The one that had called out for her to investigate in the first place. It was louder this time...but that loudness only revealed a small scattering of words. As if whoever was speaking to Charlie was unable to speak properly. She pulled herself away from it and back to the situation at hand as Rick spoke up once again

“Ah, figures it’d be this one that would malfunction,” Rick said in a weary tone.

“How do you know it’s a malfunction and not an attempted theft?” The cop asked with his gun still trained on the slumping animatronic.

“Well uh… unlike Spring-Bonnie, this one’s value is really just sentimental.” Rick began walking towards it with a reserved simile. “Uh...at least for me it is but we’ve been having a few problems with it here and there. At this point though we’ve all just learned to get used to it by now."The statement was finished with some dry laughter that quickly trailed off into something of a groan. Rick reached down into his pocket and pulled out a small two-way radio.

“Um… Let me just call someone to fix it and we can get back to our conversation.” As soon as the words left his mouth, Charlie knew that she and John had to leave _now._ She did her best to quietly slip out from under the table and move towards the entrance. The little voice in her mind calling out once more, begging her to stay. She tried to ignore it while keeping an eye out for John. Thankfully, he hadn’t gone very far from where she’d last seen him.

His back was pressed up against the wall and his gaze was set firmly on the two men in the corner. He didn’t even notice that Charlie had moved until she came up and tugged on his arm. His head swiveled around to face her but had little time to reply before Charlie pulled him back out into the hallway.

“What the heck was that thing?” John whispered, unable to stop himself from asking the question on his mind. Charlie didn’t reply, not that she had anything remotely close to an answer anyway. Seeing the animatronic had brought about another emotional surge along with the voice, but she wasn't entirely why it caused such a reaction. It wasn’t anything like the feelings she’d had seeing the other new machines or thinking about the older ones. No, the feeling she got from looking at this animatronic was a sense of...familiarity. As though she’d seen it somewhere before and recognized it. But she knew it wasn’t like any of the ones she’d been before. Despite a few gaps, she could recall nearly everything her dad had crafted in his workshop. 

There had never been anything like that animatronic either in the old Freddy’s or as one of her toys. But once they were out of its sight Charlie felt a sudden sense of release. As though it’s eyeless gaze had somehow kept her prisoner. But the connection was still there even as they got further away. Only being broken when they snuck into the main room and exited out the pizzeria.

To Charlie, the cool night air almost felt like a welcoming hug after an incredibly stuffy day in school. She did her best to quietly drink it in; something John seemed to be doing as well as he looped an arm around her shoulders.

They walked away from the pizzeria; alone save for a few workers that were taking apart the stage and speakers. Not a word was spoken until they were out of the parking lot, almost as if they were afraid the building itself might hear them.

“That was certainly a… interesting experience... '' John finally said and then hesitated before asking again, “Do you have any idea what the heck that thing from the box was?” 

“No..it looked old but my dad would have never made something like that. Not for the Pizzeria and especially not for me...” She trailed off, realizing that the topic of Arty’s supposed theft of the spring-lock suit was something John was doing his best to avoid bringing up, Not that it wasn’t warranted given her reaction to finding out about it. Charlie wasn’t even sure how to begin dealing with it herself, so she opted to stay quiet about it. Pushing it to the back of her mind for later,

They continued walking in total silence, letting their thoughts run wild in their heads until the rumble of their stomachs brought them back to reality. Charlie looked down and then up at John.

“Do you want to get something to eat? I’m more than a little hungry after not getting any pizza.” She said, attempting to lighten their dour mood.

“Sure, fast food or a place to sit down?”

“I’m good for whatever at this point.” Though her thought of _‘I just don’t want to be anywhere near Freddy’s’_ went unsaid. After that, nothing more was said between them as they power walked back to the car. Their feelings become tangled up like a spider web that was being blown in the breeze. But through it, all Charlie could still hear the little voice in the back of her mind. Faint, yet continuing to call out to her. Calling her back to the party room and that bizarre animatronic.

A distant call that she knew one day, would have to be answered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we are, another old face has reintroduced itself. Two actually if you looked closely enough. A few more mysteries have opened up along with the Puppet's box. Mysteries I hope you'll all stick around to see the answer too, 
> 
> I hope you all liked this chapter and I hope I did a good job with Charlie's panic attack. Not sure if I got it down right and I hope the whole thing didn't feel rushed, But I'll leave that for you all to decide. Have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you guys in two weeks time!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, new Chapter time! Hopefully, it isn't a hot mess for you all. This chapter caused me a bit of trouble when writing it but I think it's all sorted out now. Hope you guys enjoy it.

“Thank you for shopping at Saver Saviors, have a wonderful day!” Charlie called out to her customer while also forcing a cheerful smile across her tired face. Hoping that her pleasantness would serve as a decent mask that hid her lack of sleep from those around her. But that overly cheerful grin paired with her unusually loose and unkempt hair painted a very clear picture of her sleepless weekend.

To Charlie's relief, it seemed as though the customer hadn't noticed Charlie’s off-kilter appearance, although they hadn’t been paying that much attention to her in the first place. Which was something they continued on doing as they snatched their bags from her and walked out of the store without even acknowledging Charlie’s existence

Normally, such behavior would have incised Charlie enough to mutter a cynical remark under her breath, but today she couldn't even bring herself to roll her eyes. The only thing she allowed herself to do was to rest her elbows onto the countertop and brush away some loose strands of hair. Once she was settled, she let out a disgruntled sigh before looking around the store for any more customers that might be headed her way.

Cash register duty was one of the most soul-sucking parts of working in Jeremy’s store and her lack of sleep was only making it worse. More than once she’d found herself entertaining the thought of laying down behind the counter and taking a quick nap. But even in her dead tired state, she knew better than to even try pulling something like that.

Even if she’d been willing to try it, her experiences the past couple of nights had shown that there was no chance of her getting any sleep. Her visit to the new Freddy’s hadn’t given her or John any peace of mind, for while their initial curiosity had faded, it also raised more questions then either of them had anticipated. Not only that but the event had also increased the ferocity of her nightmares about the place.

She was still unable to recall much about them aside from the fact that they all took place at the old Freddy’s, but what was concerning to Charlie was how she’d suddenly been alone in every single one. The presence of her friends had been something of a comfort in the earlier nightmares that had been replays of the previous year’s events, but the isolation of these nightmares had left her feeling more vulnerable than ever. She felt as though her life had become bound to the restaurants through the tragedies in her life. Preventing her from being able to ever fully escape its shadow.

Charlie twisted herself around so her back was now resting against the counter instead of her chest. Her hands crossed over her abdomen as she exhaled deeply into the air above her head, ignoring the sick feeling that was beginning to grow within her stomach.

_‘Just try and forget about it,’_ had been her internal mantra the whole weekend after the trip, only to realize simply forgetting it was an impossible goal in and of itself. There was no way to just “forget” about Freddy’s and hearing about both Arty’s disappearance coupled with the knowledge that Rick had Dave’s suit in the restaurant had allowed it to cement a permanent place in her mind. Her worries had been compounded by realizing just how secretive Rick was making the whole situation.

She’d gone looking through some of their old newspapers to see if they’d said anything about Arty’s disappearance and supposed theft of the suit. But any and all talk about Freddy’s had either been talking about it’s on the community or advertisements that offered only the barest of discounts with no mention of their missing employee to be found anywhere. Rick was trying to hide what had happened from the public, no doubt to ensure that the restaurant’s reputation remained untarnished until they knew everything about the “theft”

Though, Charlie had her doubts that Arty would be found. Even if he was, Rick would no doubt sweep whatever happened to him even further beneath the rug until Arty was just a memory to him. Just like those that had gone missing before him back in Hurricane.

Charlie winced and pulled herself out of her thoughts as a headache began to form. She quickly moved her hands upwards and let out another frustrated sigh before she pressed her fingers to her temples to try begin rubbing them in an attempt to mitigate the pain. It was the only thing she could do to ward off the headache that didn't involve raiding the store’s stock of Tylenol.

While working her fingers over her temples, Charlie caught a quick glance at someone walking past her register. She turned around to see Millie moving behind the counter to begin her own workday at the other register. As she got herself settled in, the other girl took in Charlie's disheveled appearance with a perturbed expression.

“What’s up with you today? Not to sound mean but you look half-dead.” Millie asked bluntly. Charlie rubbed her face and silently huffed at her co-worker's attitude. But then again it was Millie she was talking to, the girl who always wanted to get directly to the point of the conversation without beating around the bush.

“I’m just tired, had a bit of a rough weekend,” Charlie mumbled back before going back to standing upright at the counter. The rising headache dulling, although not going fully away.

“That’s an understatement if I’d ever heard one,” Millie replied as she settled behind the cash register next to Charlie’s. “Did you get enough coffee this morning?”

“I don’t like to drink coffee but thanks,” Charlie said dryly while scanning her eyes around the store in a futile search for approaching customers. Millie wasn’t someone that she knew all that well and the most they’d ever spoken before now had been an exchange of pleasantries. Her bluntness was a mask for her somewhat aggressive nature which normally pushed Charlie away. The two of them operated in their own separate worlds, only brought together due to working in the same store.

But it seemed that today, Millie was in a bit more of a talkative mood than normal. Perhaps it was boredom or just frustration that made her feel like wanting to open up to Charlie, but whatever the reason Charlie quickly found herself in the midst of an unexpected conversation.

“Well, I guess that just means more for the boss then. Not like he isn't the one buying half the store’s stock for himself already.” Millie said, laughing a little at her own remark as she leaned down on the countertop with her chin resting in her hands. The remark did give Charlie a reason to smile, that was the most she could bring herself to do.

“By the looks of things, it sounds like you’ve had a pretty wild weekend, If it helps I heard drinking a lot of water in the morning can be good for clearing your head.” Millie gestured towards the direction of the break room. “Rebecca keeps the fridge back there stocked with tons of water bottles. I’ll cover if you want to go back and grab a few...”

Charlie looked over at Millie quizzically while her tired mind tried to sort out exactly what she was implying. Once it clicked into place, she bolted upright while vehemently shaking her head.

“Oh. No, John and I aren’t the drinking type. We’re not even old enough anyway to do it anyway…”

“Heh, that little fact doesn't really stop a lot of people in my school from doing it.” Millie joked. “Or, at least that’s what I’ve gathered from watching them try to hide their hangovers before class.” She looked up and off into the distance for a moment with a slightly annoyed expression.

“Regardless if you do or don’t at least you’ve got someone to hang out with that isn’t a screaming kid.” Charlie cocked an eyebrow and turned back to Millie with a quizzically tilting head.

“Screaming kids? Were they your siblings or are you doing some kind of babysitting job on the side?” She asked. In response, Millie cracked a lopsided smile and shook her head before then letting out a short bit of sarcastic laughter.

“Nah, it’s my cousins. It’d be wonderful if I ever got paid for putting up with them, but because it’s “for family”...well, you know.”

Charlie attempted to nod along understandingly, even though the experience wasn’t one she was able to relate with. Most of her extended family had consisted of kids much older than she was and her mother’s side hadn’t been all that present, to begin with. While she had attempted to babysit a couple of times in middle school it had quickly fallen apart due to her lack of patience with the kids.

Much like the workshop class that she'd taken in middle school, it wasn’t something that Charlie was looking to try again. Even if she was more mature now then she’d been at thirteen. She’d never had much interest in interacting with anyone that was more than three years younger than her.

All that she could think to do in response was give her co-worker a sympathetic nod right as Millie launched into a rant about her family.

“It’s honestly amazing how much my aunt and uncle don’t seem to actually want to be parents and they just keep ditching them on me and Grandpa. Of course, he doesn't really mind since he adores the little terrors.” ” Millie said and threw her hands upward in a series of dramatic gestures that Charlie could only assume were somehow related to the individual members of her family.

Charlie continued nodding along, murmuring a few “mmmhmms” in reply. She wasn’t all that interested in what Millie was saying but it was clear that she’d been holding her emotions in for a while. Something that Charlie knew from experience to be a bad idea, so she was more than happy to just let Millie get it all off her chest.

“But then oh, then they promise that they’ll take the boys to that new pizza place without bothering to check their schedules first. So guess who gets to take Hayden and Cameron there on what’s supposed to be their day off because they can’t break a promise to their boys?”

Charlie quietly gasped, her breathing stopping momentarily as she let Millie’s words sink into her brain.. Her mouth fell open as she struggled to quickly think of a response before Millie changed the subject.

“Y-you’re taking them to Freddy’s?” She asked cautiously, earning her a bemused look from Millie.

“Unless you know of any other newly opened pizza places around here then yeah.” She said in a sarcastically cheerful tone before leaning her back against the countertop so as to mimic the position Charlie had taken earlier. Her arms folding across her chest as she looked down at her feet and grumbled something to herself.

“I get to sit there and watch them play on everything that I’m too old for while being bored out of my mind. They have all the fun while leaving me stuck on the sidelines.” Her grumbles trailed off into a series of angry unintelligible murmurs before Millie fell silent and just stewed in her anger.

Because of this, she didn’t realize that Charlie hadn’t taken what she’d heard all that well. Her hands balled up into fists as a few memories from the weekend raced to the forefront of her mind.

She knew that Millie wasn’t wrong in her opinions. Outside of being able to have a bit of pizza, she’d not seen anything that might hold the interest of an average adult, let alone an easily bored teenager that was forced to go there with her cousins.

Had it not been for her and John’s little investigation, they probably would have left after they’d gotten done talking to Rick. Once more he thought of Arty and Dave’s suit came into the forefront of her mind. But carried along with those thoughts was an idea that made Charley's blood run cold.

Her body tensing up as the idea began taking root form in her mind. An idea that, given what had happened, was probably up there in her list of horrible ideas. She didn’t want to put herself through that again because this time she would really be alone. With no one, she actually trusted there to help her in case something went wrong.

_‘This isn’t something that you can ignore. Not after what you and John overheard Rick saying about Arty.’_ Charlie shut her eyes and took several deep breaths to relax. It was all she could do to drown out these thoughts. But they refused to be silenced by her efforts, in fact, her refusal to listen to them only made them more powerful.

She knew that if Arty had wanted to do something with the Spring-Bonnie suit then he would have done it already. Especially if he’d intended on exacting some kind of revenge on her, there was always the possibility that he was waiting for the heat over the theft to die down. But knowing just how hot-headed and reckless Arty was made that idea rather improbable.

There was only one real possibility as to what happened to him, the one that had kept running through Charlie’s head all weekend whenever she wasn’t thinking about her nightmares. Centered on the man who took away so much from not just her, but almost everyone in Hurricane. The man who betrayed her father, killed her brother, and then tried to do the same to her and Carlton before she'd triggered the spring locks within his suit. Putting what she'd hoped would be the final nail in Freddy's coffin.

The suit that was now “missing” along with Arty. The nightmarish memories of that man quickly overrode all of her attempts to push away the idea that had formed. Her thoughts seeming to possess a will of their own as she turned to Millie and said,

“Well, if you want I could take them to Freddy’s for you.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she immediately began wishing there was a way for her to stuff them back into her head. But it was far too late for that. Millie looked at her with a mixture of surprise and hopefulness on her face.

“Y-You’d really do something like that for me?” She asked quietly. Charlie felt like a prisoner within her own body as she gave Millie a sincere nod.

“Of course, since John’s got a big project this weekend so I’ll have nothing to do besides sit around being bored by myself.” A lopsided smile forced its way onto her face. “It sounds like you’re well overdue for a break anyway, so why not kill two birds with one stone?”

Charlie watched as Millie’s expression changed from a look of shock into one of nervousness. Her face seemed to brighten as she looked down at the counter and traced her finger in idle circles.

“I-I mean...that’s...it’s an amazing offer but...I can’t leave them with someone I barely know. Not that I think you’re a bad person or anything but my family would kill me if I just let you walk off with my cousins.” Millie said before falling silent and switching into a more professional demeanor as a customer wandered over to her register with a cart full of items.

Charlie quietly watched on while internally debating her next move. Going back to Freddy’s so soon was a terrible idea and she spent the better part of Millie’s interaction with the customer trying to talk herself out of it. However, she did recognize that the sooner she could solve the ever-growing mystery surrounding the new Freddy’s, then the sooner it could all be put to rest.

‘Hopefully, it’ll be forever this time.’ She thought impatiently as Millie continued trying to ring up the customer's items as fast as possible. Charlie knew that her mind was more than made up now about what she had to do. Even if she hated the mere notion of going anywhere near the place

As soon as Millie finished with the customer Charlie looked over and began speaking to before the aforementioned customer had even collected their bags.

“How about this? You could ride along with me there and check in on us every so often while browsing the shops.” She said quickly, racing to get the words out before Millie could provide a counterpoint. “That way you’re not trapped at Freddy’s all say.”

Millie stared silently at Charlie, a little startled by her sudden enthusiasm. Yet there was also a sense of thoughtfulness in her gaze as she quietly mulled over Charlie’s offer.

“Well...I...I guess so...as long as I stop in It should be okay.…” She said quietly, her gaze lowering back down towards her shoes. “You’re sure that you want to spend all of Saturday stuck with me and my cousins?”

“Absolutely,” Charlie said affirming before then being cut off by a customer arriving at her own cash register, followed by another one going up to Millie’s register. Their conversation came to an abrupt end as they both fell into their normal work routines.

But even as the store began getting busier, there was a change in both their attitudes. Millie seemed to have regained a lost spring in her step, a small bit of youthful energy peeking through her usually sour attitude. But It wasn’t a feeling that Charlie could share in. What she’d just promised could allow her to make things better and finally put all her demons to rest. But it was also possible that by doing this, everything could become worse than it already was.

She pushed away from the dueling thoughts and tried to put her focus back into her work. But in the back of her mind, the memories lingered on and built as she silently made out a plan of action. One that, if her suspicions were found to be correct, would make her more determined than ever to put an end to the bloody shadow Freddy’s cast once and for all.  
\---------------  
**Utah**

The harsh, shrill chirp of an alarm clock broke the darkened room’s silence as the early morning sun began creeping its way through the curtains. From beneath a haphazardly stacked clump of blankets shot out a hand that forcefully pressed down on the alarm until it had ceased its chirping.

The person beneath the blankets let out an angry groan before they started kicking and shoving aside the covers to free themselves from the bed. After a minute of struggling, they managed to throw the mound of blankets onto the floor. The dim light exposing the tired face of Carlton Burke to the world.

He groaned once more and shielded his face away from the light. Keeping his eyes trained on the floor, his expression becoming less angered as he stared into the tangled pile of blankets.

“One of these days I should probably try and actually make this thing look decent.” He murmured but knew full well that the words were empty and hollow. He’d said them almost every day since the bed first got messy and yet nothing had ever come from it. Empty words meant to make him feel like everything was alright, much like the reassurances he’d been given by his family in regards to the current...situation between his parents. Brought on by both his light night escapades and misguided trust in an old friend.  
Carlton lightly slapped his cheeks to force his mind away from that particular topic and pulled himself up into a sitting position. A stifled yawn passing through his lips as he rubbed his eyes and then looked a bit closer at the time.

“Hmm, it’s only 6:15. I actually managed to get almost five hours of sleep in today.” A sarcastic grin formed on his face as he arched upward and stretched. “Maybe tomorrow night I can go for a whole six.”

A small row of quiet, pained laughter followed the statement before he stood up with another stretch.

“I’d better get to the bathroom before either Mom or Aunt Cynthia need to use it.” He started walking over towards the bedroom door when he noticed something hidden in the shadows where the morning light had yet to reach.

The already forced smile quickly changed into a thin frown as he eyed up the now-familiar yellow bear. The one that he hadn’t seen, at least willingly, since his failed expedition to Freddy’s. Carlton crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway while meeting the bear's gaze. His face further hardened upon hearing it start to whisper in his head.

“I can’t really say the feeling is mutual this time.” He grumbled while wiping at his eyes “Considering how mad everyone’s been at me lately, I’m surprised you’re not mad at me too.”

He closed his eyes as the bear continued whispering to him. The voice echoing in his head while trying to provide some reassurance, but Carlton just responded with an angry sneer.

“That doesn't really help much Michael. Especially since your plan is what's gotten my family into this mess.” His anger flared up when the whispers came again and he pointed an accusatory finger in the bear’s direction. “I don’t even get why you needed me to do that. Freddy’s isn’t my thing and it shouldn't have been my problem to deal with in the first place!”

The whispers went quiet after the outburst, the silence becoming almost deafening to the already stressed out Carlton. The sudden lack of noise created a slight ringing sensation in his ears as the yellow bear cast sorrowful energy throughout the room.

“Sorry, I’m just…” Carlton looked away from the bear and scrunched up his face. “I don’t want to talk to you right now Michael. My life’s already screwed up enough without my dead best friend dragging me into some paranormal bullcrap.” He threw open the bedroom door and moved into the hallway while giving the bear a final, downcast stare.

“Hasn’t Freddy’s ruined our lives enough already? He's dead anyway so I'll doubt that he'd be much of a problem even if he does come back like you. It's not my fight anymore!" He blinked as the light from the rising sun spilled further into the room and chased away both the darkness of night along with the ghosts of his past.

He stared somewhat for lonely at the corner where the yellow bear had been sitting, Carlton exited the bedroom. His outburst feeling both heartbreaking and yet cathartic. With a sigh, he shut the door behind him and walked away from the bedroom. Leaving Michael, wherever he was, alone in the dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember Kids: Trauma and the paranormal do not mix well. Charlie's setting herself down a destructive path and Carlton's left it altogether. Let's just hope that it doesn't end in their destruction.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Blows a Party blower* Happy Birthday to this wonderfully confusing franchise that we all know, love, and collectively suffer through known as Five Nights at Freddy's. 
> 
> As a bit of a Birthday present, I cracked out this bad boy to post today. So I hope you all enjoy it! Let me know if you liked it and I'll see you guys next time.

“Okay, let’s do one more check before we head out. So I’ve got the notes, a copy of the book itself, and several biographies of the author...”John mumbled to himself as he quietly leafed through his small pile of supplies on the kitchen table. Taking the time to carefully examine every scrap of paper to make sure it was the ones he would need.

The report that John was working on was one of the first big assignments of the semester and he didn’t want to risk failing due to forgetting one of his notes. 

Once he was satisfied that he had everything that he’d need, John re-organized everything back in an orderly pile.

_‘Looks like this is everything then.’_ He thought, before then doing a final idiot check of his memories.

As he continued putting everything into place, a flash of movement caused his eyes to turn towards the apartment door to see Charlie leaning up against the doorframe. Her head lowered while her fingers absentmindedly played with the strings of her coat while waiting for John to finish gathering up his things. Every so often she’d look up in his direction and if their eyes met then she’d flash a nervous smile towards him before lowering her head again.

But this time, she stopped fiddling with the strings and stretched before moving over towards John with a teasing look appearing on her face.

"So, are you all ready to go? Because I don't think flipping through your folders all day is going to help you get that paper written any faster." She said playfully, leaning down so her head was resting on his shoulder.

Despite the upbeat way that she’d spoken to him, John noticed that there seemed to be an anxious undertone in her voice. The playfulness being little more than an act to hide something she didn’t want him to know. But he quickly put those thoughts away, worried that he might have been mishearing it as a result of his own nerves.

“Yeah, I’m just about ready to go. Can’t wait for this thing to be done.” He quickly shoved the papers back where they belonged before pushing the chair back and standing up. Charlie rose with him and wrapped her hands around his waist. 

The playful smile on her face grew as she suddenly buried her face against the back of his shirt, mumbling something that was rendered unintelligible by the fabric. Her grip on his waist became unusually tighter then what it would normally be.

But John ignored it and lowered his fingers to allow them to curl around Charlie’s hands. The pair of them giving each other’s fingers a light squeeze before Charlie pushed her face even deeper into John’s back. Not wanting to let go of him despite her earlier comments about his paper.

“As much as I love this, we should really get going before both of us are late,” John whispered to Charlie, who seemed to flinch a little at the statement.

“Just one more minute… please?” She replied softly, looking up from his shirt just enough so that John could see her begging eyes. John sighed and disconnected one of his hands to grab for his folders.

“Weren’t you the one who just said that my paper wasn’t going to write itself?” He asked and then watched as Charlie’s pleading expression turned into one of indignation.

“Oh, so you’re throwing that back at me.” She pulled away from John and crossed her arms with a playful huff.

John replied to the huff with a smirk as he gathered up his things before quickly giving Charlie a peck on the forehead. The action caused her to let out a surprised, yet delighted squeak.

“After this project’s all done then I’ll have plenty of time to relax. Also, isn’t it getting close to when you were supposed to meet… uh...Millie was it?”

“Oh… yeah…” Charlie took a quick glance over at the wall clock with her expression becoming one of worry like she’d forgotten about her plans before reaching into her coat pocket for her keys. It was something that shouldn't have raised a red flag for John, but he found himself unable to shake off the feeling that there was something more behind her behavior.

Charlie pulled them out with a dramatic spin around her fingers. A nervous grin playing across her face as she looked back up at John.

“Well, if you’re all ready to go then so am I.” She said before turning and walking back towards the front door. Only allowing her nervous grin to falter once she was certain John couldn't see her face as he followed her out the door.

But despite her attempt to hide her face, John quickly noticed that something was off about the way Charlie was carrying herself. Her walking place was slow and heavy. As though there was an unseen weight that was dragging her down. An act she continued to keep up as they climbed into the car and set off into town.

She was nervous, and John found himself unable to figure out exactly why. He'd only started getting these feelings after Charlie told him that she was going to hang out with one of her co-workers while he was working on his project

That in of itself hadn’t been what troubled him though, it’d been her cagey behavior whenever he’d tried to ask about her plans. Not that he was suspicious of her cheating on him, as she’d made her point to Arty regarding their relationship perfectly clear. But there was an unshakeable feeling that Charlie was planning to do something potentially dangerous.

Worrisome thoughts began clouding his mind as he started trying to put things together and realized that there was only one place that could make Charlie so uneasy. But, she wouldn’t actually go through with it, would she? The idea that she’d willingly go back to Freddy’s so soon after her panic attack was something that seemed foolish, yet such an outcome was quite possible. After overhearing Rick’s conversation about Arty’s “theft” of the spring-lock suit, Charlie had barely slept at all the rest of the weekend. John had his doubts that Arty actually stole the suit and knew that Charlie shared those same thoughts despite not saying it out loud.

Adding onto that was the weird crying animatronic thing they’d found in the Party Room. The moment John had laid eyes on it, he’d felt unwelcome energy radiating from it. As though his being there had angered it. Charlie had never said anything about her thoughts on the thing, leading John to wonder if she’d seen it before,

While he’d briefly considered the possibility that there might have been another soul that was residing within it, the idea didn’t make any sense to him. The assumption after they’d gotten out of the old Freddy’s had been that with Dave gone, the kids he’d killed had finally been able to move onto the afterlife in peace.

But if their current suspicions regarding the disappearance of the suit were right, then it meant that they’d either been wrong or that Dave’s spirit was now somehow lingering inside the suit that had killed him. That in itself was already repulsive but the thought that all of his victims were still trapped in their metal coffins because the man who’d killed them wasn’t ready to die made it even worse. 

The deeper he went into his thoughts, the darker John’s face became. Curiosity becoming overrun with fear that was then was clouded with anger, all of it brought on the memory of Dave’s actions. Just thinking about what he had done to Michael made John’s blood boil. Not to mention what he’d tried to do to Carlton and then tried to do with Charlie....

Remembering that horrible moment caused John to look over to the driver's side of the car as the memory played out in his mind. Being forced to watch helplessly as Dave grabbed Charlie by the throat and threatened her life in a final attempt to escape the law.

‘ _No...he’d said that he wanted her to stay though._ John reminded himself, his fists clenching as he played back what Dave had said. ‘ _Probably to his sick kicks by finishing what he’d started with her brother.’_

“Dave” had always been a kind of hot button for John ever since that day. Angry that the man Charlie’s father had trusted like a brother had so casually chosen to betray her family as though they’d meant nothing to him. Which, knowing what John knew now, he probably didn’t care for them at all.

A sudden, possessiveness came over John in that moment. An instinctive desire to keep Charlie out of that monster’s way. He didn't want her going back to Freddy’s, or even into the general area ever again. But as he opened his mouth to begin voicing his concerns, a more recent memory rushed to the forefront of his mind.

_Don’t call security on me, call it on that abusive deadbeat over there!’_ The memory of Arty’s words pushed all thoughts of stopping Charlie out of his mind. John lowered his head while cupping his hands to his mouth as Arty’s insinuations all came back to him. Implying that He was not only a possessive control freak that would abuse Charlie if she so much as showed interest in doing things he didn’t approve of. Forcing her to work so that way he could party all the time at college and living off of her wages.

_‘There’s no way to win here. Say nothing and she might get hurt. Say anything and you’ll become what Arty claimed you to be.’_ Said a voice that sounded suspiciously like his father’s. 

It had been well over a month since that confrontation and the accusations still made him feel sick to his stomach. But the thought of coming close to making them a reality, no matter what his intentions had made him feel even worse. He quietly crossed his arms over his stomach, letting out an exasperated sigh of defeat.

He then felt a hand gently jostling his shoulder, making him look back over at the driver’s side to see Charlie staring at him. Concern filling her eyes as she looked over her boyfriend's pale, distressed face. A quick glance outside the car windows behind her revealed that they’d made it to his campus library.

“John?” She asked softly, firmly rubbing his shoulder. “Are you feeling alright? You’re looking...well... not like you.”

John looked away and unfurled his arms before letting out another sigh. A nervous smile crossing his face in an effort to assuage Charlie’s worries.

“I’ll be fine, it's just...all the stress from the project y' know? It can get to you after a while.” He said, trying to convince himself more than he was Charlie. Whether or not it actually worked was undetermined as he watched Charlie briefly look downwards.

“Oh… well, don’t overwork yourself okay? We don’t need you making yourself sick from all this pressure.” She leaned forward and lightly kissed his cheek, The gesture turning John’s smile into a genuine one as he placed his hand over hers.

“Once this project’s done then I should be able to get the hang of how they work for this course. That should hopefully keep me from getting stressed like this again.”

Alright, If you say so.” Charlie replied while stroking her thumb along his cheek, “When do you want me to come back and pick you up?”

John fell quiet as he gathered up the things he needed from the floor. Uncertainty clouding his mind as he honestly had no idea how long the project was going to take him. After a minute of contemplating, he leaned back up and asked,

“Umm, the library doesn't close till around nine so as long as you’re here before then I should be fine.” He watched as Charlie looked forward and began silently tapping her finger against the wheel. Thinking over her own plans to determine when she’d be back.

“Well, I think Millie said that her grandfather likes her to be home around dinnertime so… how about we say sometime around seven-ish? That should give you plenty of time to finish your project and maybe I’ll pick something up for the two of us on my way here.” She looked back to John with a warm smile that chased away a few of John’s worries as he began climbing out of the car. Although, not all of his worries disappeared so quickly as he knew that she was going back to Freddy’s whether he liked it or not.

Once he was out of the car, he kneeled down so he was once again eye level with Charlie. His arm rose up to wave at her as he said a final goodbye. His anxiousness returned briefly as he spoke.

“You have fun out there and um...be careful, okay?”

His already-strained smile fell as he saw a brief look of panic flash across Charlie’s face. The nervousness returning to her demeanor as she said a hurried goodbye of her own and drove away from him. Heading quickly out of the parking lot and towards the street. While moving a little faster than the speed limit would have allowed.

John’s heart sank as he watched her drive off, the sick feeling returning to his stomach as he realized what he’d done with his goodbye. The look of fear on her face was one he could recognize as it was the face he always saw in the mirror after his father had yelled at him for doing something that wasn’t “approved.” He shuddered as his mind was already leaping to the worst conclusion.

_‘She probably thought you were going to tell her not to go back. Ordering her around and making her do what you want just like Dad always did back home.'_

His fingers dug into his folders as he turned away from the parking lot and began walking towards the library. With Arty’s accusations continuing to echo nonstop despite his attempts to block them out. But they didn’t stop no matter what he tried, even when he was inside the library and hard at work on his project they continued on an endless loop in his head

The fear of becoming like the man who’d driven him from his home in the first place overwhelmed him as he silently went about his work. The whole time praying too whoever was listening, that Charlie would be okay. 

* * *

_‘How did he manage to figure out what you’re doing?’_ Was the question that kept repeating in Charlie’s mind as her fingers sank into her steering wheel. John’s goodbye continuously circling through her head like the buzzing of an annoying insect. Her shoulders sank as she thought back to all of their interactions up to that point, trying to determine if she’d let anything slip out that could have tipped him off. She wasn’t worried about him getting angry at her, but what did worry her was the thought that John might insist that he needed to come back with her back to Freddy’s.

She’d done her best to keep her actual plans under a mental lock and key. Not once mentioning Millie’s cousins or that they were taking them to Freddy’s. All of her and Millie’s conversations had been done when they’d been at work and John had yet to actually step foot into the store itself.

‘ _There’s no for him to have found out, he was probably just saying it as part of the goodbye. After all, the last time you met with a co-worker outside of work didn’t go well’_ She leaned back and tried to relax her shoulders. Mentally repeating it a few times to let it sink into her mind and become fact. Trying her best to reassure herself that it was the answer and that John was in the dark still regarding her venture back to Freddy’s. 

Not that his presence wouldn’t have been appreciated, but this was something that Charlie wanted to do on her own. Without dragging anyone else into the possible line of fire or jeopardizing their current situations. This trip back to Freddy’s was almost entirely for benefit and hers alone.

As she drove along and followed the directions Millie had given her earlier in the week, Charlie suddenly found herself thinking back what John had said to her just before they’d left for Freddy’s opening night.

_‘Probably not. But I don’t think either of our curiosities will be satisfied unless we go there at least once…’_

She shook her head at the memory and laughed sarcastically at the irony. Their attempt at satisfying their curiosities only resulted in her being drawn back into the dark world she’d so desperately been trying to leave behind.

But deep down Charlie had recognized that she’d have done something just like what she’d planned if they hadn’t accepted Rick’s offer. Not doing so would have just meant that she’d have found out about this stuff either later or entirely on her own. While it was better than going in blind, it was an overall unsettling situation to find herself in.

Her mind ran through several possible answers to the questions that were lingering in her mind, trying to narrow them down to the best answers before she got to Millie’s. Having children around wasn’t the most ideal environment for sorting through complicated thoughts after all.  


To her, the answer as to what happened to Arty was obvious, but she continued to hope that the answer she’d come too was wrong. Even just thinking about the possibility of “Dave” rising from the grave within his suit made her skin crawl. 

The effect that his death had on Charlie was something that she’d probably never get over. In the heat of the moment, she’d felt a bit of pride in taking down the man who had caused so much pain in her life. But time had turned the feeling of victory into a deep sense of guilt. While Charlie had avenged those he’d wronged, it wasn’t the justice that had been needed.

Instead of rotting away inside of a suit, he should have been made to stay in prison until his life ended on its own. Too never be free, cause harm to anyone else, or see the sun ever again. But, if Charlie’s hunch was correct then he’d found a way to turn what should have been his tomb into a new toy for his awful game. A toy that had unintentionally handed to him on a silver platter.

She let the memory of Dave's final moments replay one more time before forcing it to the back of her mind as she pulled up to the address Millie had given to her.

She glanced at the house and found herself noticing just how unremarkable it was. Set alongside several others that were almost identical save for a few differences in colors with the only notable difference being the presence of two little boys running wild in the front yard. Behind them, a figure wearing a grey hoodie sat on the front steps next to a bright blue duffle bag. The hood had been pulled over their head and obscuring their face as they watched the kids play.

As she stepped out of the car Charlie found herself embracing the cool air more than she normally would. A release from the stuffiness that had been brought on by the torrent of worrisome thoughts and memories that had built up during the drive.

She looked towards the front porch and gave the hooded figure a friendly wave. Already surmising that it was her younger co-worker even before she’d thrown back the hood and stood up.

Millie half-heartedly replied to Charlie’s wave before stooping back down and sliding the duffle bag over her shoulder. She then cupped her hands to her mouth and called out to the kids in a voice that was much louder than Charlie thought was possible for the moody girl.

“Alright you two, let’s get moving!” Her shouts carried across the yard and caused the kids to finally stop roughhousing. The two of them quickly made their way back over to Millie, who was already moving to meet them halfway. Once they’d reached each other, Millie spun them around so she could shepherd them over to her car.

Charlie looked down at the boys as they approached her, doing her best to burn their features into her memory. The pair were nearly identical twins, though the one on Millie’s left seemed to have more freckles than his brother. The sight of them caused her to momentarily flashback to when she and Sammy played around in the back of Fredbear’s. 

But she quickly forced it aside and put on a shallow smile for the kids as they came near. Both of them, looking up at her curiously while Millie squeezed both of their shoulders as a way of silently commanding them to behave.

“So, are these your two famous little cousins?” Charlie joked in an effort to break the sudden silence that had overcome them all.

“More like little terrors but yeah.” Millie removed her hands and individually gestured to them while saying their names. “The one with the cap is Hayden and the one with the freckles is Cameron.” After Millie finished the rather short introductions, the two boys looked up at Millie with Cameron making an angry face as he reminded Millie,

“I thought Mom told you to stop calling us “terrors.”

“Well when you stop acting like terrors, I’ll call you something else,” Millie said, her voice taking on an icy venom that shut both kids up. She then herded them into the backseats of the car while Charlie stood back and watched Millie go about settling them into place. Not wanting to interfere since Millie seemed to know what she was doing around them.

Millie strapped them in with a stern warning to not mess up anything in the car before slamming the door. Her face lightened as she rose to meet Charlie’s expectant gaze with a weary sigh.

“My Aunt packed everything that the boys might need into this thing.” She said, patting the large duffle bag that was slung over her shoulder. “They even gave us money to get into Freddy’s, I took some of it so I could get in alter but there should be enough for you and the boys to get in.” Without waiting for Charlie to reply, Millie opened the car door and tossed the duffle bag on the passenger seat floor.

I really can’t thank you enough for helping me today.”

“Like I said Millie, it’s no trouble for me. I’d probably just end up wandering around too so, at least with this I have something to do. ” Charlie said as she climbed back into the car. “My dad used to own a place that was just like Freddy’s when I was a little girl so I know my way around a Pizzeria.”

“Well weren’t you the lucky one.” Millie grinned sarcastically as she slid into the passenger seat. Charlie looked away and back towards the road. The memories from the original beginning to ebb back to the forefront of her mind, but she tried to stay positive in Millie’s presence.

“Considering that my experience is getting you the day off, I’d consider you the lucky one here Millie,” Charlie said before looking back over and noticing that Millie’s expression had turned cheerful. If only just for a second before it then resumed it’s normally stoic appearance.

After checking to make sure everyone was ready, Charlie pulled away from the house and drove back up the street. 

There was no turning back from this now. They were on their way to the place that would hopefully provide a wonderful day for the “terrors” and hold the answers to all of Charlie’s questions. She’d once compared Freddy’s presence in her life like a shadow, something that was part of her but could be easily ignored. But lately it had become something more sinister than her original comparison. 

A monster that haunted every moment of Charlie’s life both while she was awake and asleep. There was no outrunning it now and the most she could hope to do was face it head-on in effort to defeat it. Maybe then, she could finally bury it and move on with her life. But something in the back of her mind, that familiar little voice she’d heard on opening night, told her that this was only just the beginning.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHY WON'T THEY LET ME GO?  
> WHY CAN'T I JUST MOVE ON?  
> I GAVE MY HEART AND SOUL  
> NOW EVERYTHING IS GONE  
> IN DARKNESS I STILL SEE  
> THE LIGHT OF THEIR EYES  
> THEY HAUNT ME LIKE A GHOST  
> AND IN THE NIGHT THEY RISE


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Strap yourselves in, this chapter's going to be dozy! A very long dozy....better pack a lunch.

Charlie jolted in surprise as Millie’s cousins let out a cheer from the backseat of her blue honda. They had only just come into view of the new Freddy’s and the boys were already excited. Said excitement did not extend to either of the older girls as Millie silently slumped down into her seat and covered her ears as the boys craned their necks to get a good look at the restaurant

Despite her outwardly put-together demeanor, Charlie found herself wanting to follow Millie’s example as the boys continued to cheer. She sighed and tried to put her focus on finding a parking spot close to the entrance while also doing her best to not let her negative emotions chip away at the mask she’d created. The internal nervousness was already ebbing away at her outward appearance even as she put on a stern face when she noticed that the boys were frantically prying at the door handles in an effort to try escaping the blue honda and get into Freddy’s before either she or Mille could stop them.

Charlie slowed the car down and was just about to ask them to stop only to see that Millie was already whipping around to face them. Her face morphing into an expression of anger that Charlie had previously assumed only an angry parent was capable of giving.

“If you two don’t knock that off right now, I’m going to have Charlie turn around and take us back home.” Her words were calm, barely even registering as a shout but her angry face got the message across and the boy who instantly settled back down. Hands glued to their sides with heads hung low, though Cameron definitely stuck his tongue out at Millie before joining his brother in looking at the floor mat. 

Millie just rolled her eyes at the display before turning around to face out the windshield again with a dramatically aggravated sigh. Doing her best to avoid looking at Charlie, out of concern that the older girl might be judgmental of her behavior towards the boys.

While Charlie said nothing outwardly about it, she didn’t see anything wrong with how Millie corrected her cousin's behavior. The response wasn’t unexpected as Millie would speak ruefully about anyone even remotely related to her whenever she had the chance. Charlie had heard a lot of similar complaints from her peers back in high school so she was more than understanding of her position. Which was why she’d already decided that it wasn’t her place to interfere in Millie’s family affairs, especially since she had her own things to worry about while at Freddy’s. But for now, she just had to focus on getting everything in place so she could go about that business.

No sooner had Charlie swung the car into an empty parking space then the boy's excitement began returning, more subdued than before but still very present. Millie glanced up and manually unlocked the passenger side door. As she climbed out of the car at the same time as Charlie, Millie whistled sharply to get her attention before tossing the duffle bag into Charlie's arms.

“Don’t forget this thing.” Was all that Millie said before she opened up the back doors to let the boys out. Her fingertips sank into the backs of their shirts as she pulled them out of the car as Charlie walked around to face them. But not before taking a moment to put a fake smile that would hopefully hide her already fraying nerves.

The two boys stood at attention albeit with shared winces of pain as Millie leaned down to whisper something into their ears. Charlie wasn’t able to understand everything that was said, but she managed to understand the basic gist of what she’d said. It basically amounted to an order from Millie to behave and not cause her friend too much trouble before she began pushing them over towards Charlie.

Once she’d gotten them in front of their “babysitter” Millie stood up to face Charlie once again. The younger girl crossed her arms and looked down as she spoke in a rather timid voice.

“Thanks again for doing this… I’ll come back around lunchtime to check on you and the boys okay?”

“You don’t need to do that-” Charlie began but was cut off by Millie giving her a sharp nod along with a stern face.

“I do. Because if I don’t help you at least part of the time then these little terrors will tattle on me to their mom and dad.” The boys looked up at Millie before flashing Charlie the most innocent smiles that they could create on short notice. Charlie wasn’t sure what they were trying to pull, but unfortunately for them, it failed to have any effect on her.

She swung the duffle bag over her shoulder and took hold of the boy's shoulders just as Millie had to begin guiding them over towards Freddy’s. Millie watched them walk towards the entrance for only a moment before she then turned away and headed off in the direction of some of the nearby shops.

Charlie didn’t watch her go, not only due to her own nervousness about going into Freddy’s with only two little boys for company but also because Millie’s absence had an instantaneous effect on the boys. The energy that Cameron and Hayden were displaying earlier was now returning in full force as they started trying to excitedly run over to the restaurant. With Charlie's efforts to maintain a firm grip on their shoulders being the only thing preventing them from getting away from her.

She gripped hard and squeezed their shoulders like she’d seen Millie do before. It seemed to work as both of the boys' paces slowed to a crawl, though neither of them seemed particularly happy about needing to wait a little longer to get inside. Charlie let out a sigh as she thought back to how Carlton and Michael had behaved in much the same way back in Hurricane. They’d always be the first ones out the door of whatever car that had taken them to the pizzeria. With John usually tailing not far behind them and herself either racing to catch up or waiting for them inside.

She looked up at the giant, cartoon bear still hanging over the front entrance with a banner stretching across it that read “Now Open” as a way of attracting people during the day when the lights were off. While the boys had been entranced by the giant Freddy, Charlie found herself needing to repress a shudder as she passed beneath its seemingly all-seeing gaze through the front doors of the Pizzeria,

To her surprise, the front entrance was very different from what she'd seen on opening night with John. Blocking the hallway leading to the main dining area was a large desk with a set of turnstiles attached to either side. Behind that desk sat a pair of employees who didn't look that much older than her that were both less than enthused about having to be here.

Charlie walked the boys over to the right side of the desk, the employee there giving her a disdainfully tired glance before he straightened up to give off the appearance of professionalism. Charlie watched him wearily look over the three of them before typing something into an unseen computer keyboard.

“Party of three?”

“Yeah, just the three of us, though a friend of mine should be coming by later,” Charlie said, the employee looked up at her before glancing around the room and then back down at his keyboard.

“Well, they can pay their own way in once they get here. For now, it’s a party of three.” He said in a slightly harsh tone. Charlie grimaced but said nothing as the employee finished punching everything into his computer and then read off the price of admission for all three of them.

It was a lot higher than Charlie had expected, but the money that Millie’s relatives had given them proved to be more than enough for covering the entrance fee. After she’d handed the cash over to the employee, she was startled upon being handed a set of bracelets instead of her change. 

Two of them were colored in a rich purple while the other one was bright green. She stared down at them before looking up at the employee with a confused glance that was met with an unenthusiastic explanation.

“All patrons of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria and Family Entertainment Center must wear these bracelets while inside of the establishment. Children get purple and adults get green. You cannot exit the restaurant or any of the play areas without getting a scan to confirm that the adult bracelet matches up with the child’s. This ensures that no child either goes with the wrong person or is left behind.”

Charlie looked down at the bracelets again with a thin frown. It hadn’t taken her very long to realize that this was Rick’s attempt at avoiding what had happened in Hurricane so many years ago. But even if this system had been in playback then, it wouldn't have done any good in saving those that had gone missing, it wouldn't have taken her dad’s partner long to find some way around it. 

Despite her hang-ups about the bracelet system, Charlie decided against arguing with the restaurant's rules. She looked down at the boys and motioned for them to hold out their arms. As before, Hayden was more than happy to follow the rules but Cameron was rather reluctant.

“Those things look dumb.” He grumbled as Charlie wrapped one of the bracelets around Hayden's Wrist Before looking at Cameron with an exasperated sigh.

“You can’t get in without one, Cameron, so if you don’t want to put it on then you can go shopping with Millie.” She ended the sentence by spinning Cameron’s bracelet around her finger, the employee that had served her watching on with an unfazed expression at Cameron’s reluctance.

Cameron only spent a few seconds thinking about Charlie’s threat before he then quickly snatched the bracelet from her hand and began wrapping it around his own wrist. 

“I can put it on myself,” he grumbled. Charlie smirked before setting to work on her own bracelet and then made sure that all three of them were secure on their wrists, the employee half-heartedly pulled out a handheld scanner and held it over each of their wrists. The nearby turnstile unlocking with a “ _clank’_ once Charlie’s was scanned. 

“Have a wonderful day at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria and Family Entertainment Center, where fantasy and fun come to life.” He said while waving them through the turnstiles before then turned his attention to the next group coming through the doors. As Charlie led the boys through the turnstiles into the pizzeria proper, she felt the now familiar feeling of dread wash over her. Accompanied by the same voice that she’d heard before rising up from the depths of her mind. As though it had been lying in wait for her to return to Pizzeria proper before trying to communicate with her again. Calling out to her in half-formed words like a child screaming for a parent to save them from some dreamed up monster.

It was hard for her to ignore the voice’s pull, but she couldn’t just leave the boys on their own so she could answer it. Not yet anyway.

The boy’s excitement returned once they caught a whiff of pizza mixed in with the sounds of upbeat music filling the air as they entered into the main dining area. Charlie's grip on them tightening as her gaze settled on the show stage, where Rick’s animatronics were finishing up their latest performance. The boy's attention turned to the stage as well, their eyes wide with excitement at seeing the larger than life machines dancing before them. It may have been the boy's first time hearing the performance, but Charlie already had it almost burned into her memory.

While the initial shock had worn off, Charlie still felt uncomfortable seeing these new creations performing for crowds of patrons that were unaware of Freddy’s bloodied legacy. But how could they know? It had happened before most of them were even born, in a place that none of them probably even cared about. The only way they could know is if someone told them, but even then they probably wouldn’t care. For the people enjoying the new Freddy’s, it’d be like driving past a memorial on the roadside. While some of them might acknowledge the tragedies that had happened, but most of them ultimately just wouldn't care.

The whole group watched as the show finished with all of the animatronics singing a high note before the curtain abruptly fell over and cut them off from the rest of the restaurant. The lights brightened up to reveal dozens of cheering and applauding children. Only a few people didn’t join in the clapping and that included everyone in Charlie’s group.

“Is that it?” Hayden asked while making a disappointed face.

“No, that was just the ending,” Charlie replied softly as she turned her focus on the newly hung sign next to the stage. It was a simple square with checkered borders and the word “SHOWTIMES” at the top in big white letters. Below it was several sets of numbers, which Charlie assumed to be when the animatronics would be playing next. 

“They’ll be doing another show in a little over an hour from now,” She said after quickly pulling her arm away from Hayden to check her watch. She took hold of his arm again and looked down with a subdued smile. “How about we all go find something to do until then? I’ll order some Pizza while you play so we can have it during the show.” 

The idea seemed to please Hayden, though Cameron was a bit reluctant to accept it as he peered quizzically about the room until his eyes fell upon another hallway that was just left of the stage. Charlie looked in that same direction and saw a hanging sign that proudly bore the words “Playtime Cove!” in bright colorful letters. She glanced down at boys questioningly and found that Cameron had the same idea as her.

“I want to go to the Cove.” He said firmly, to which Hayden backed him up with a silent nod. 

“Alright, let’s go to the cove then,” Charlie said.

The three of them moved quickly down the hallway, the voice inside of Charlie’s head becoming a little fainter the further away as they moved away from the main area until finally being pushed aside as her thoughts became centered on the large room that the hallway opened up into. 

Had she been a child, the sight of the large indoor playground would have thrilled her as much as it thrilled the boys. A large structure sat in the center of the massive room, stretching up towards the ceiling, with several smaller structures for the kids too small for the big one circling it. All of it was generic playground equipment that was now themed around the restaurant's characters with children, running, climbing, and sliding around with screams of joy. 

All in all, Charlie had to admit that it was rather impressive; despite it being full of screaming children. The two boys began dragging her over to the play area, practically begging to join in the fun. An employee waved them over to a small gate and then scanned the boy’s wristbands before opening up the gate to allow them inside. Charlie finally let up on her grip, allowing the boys to run off into the play area.

“I’ll come back when the show’s about to start okay?” Charlie called, only for it to be drowned out by the excited chattering of the other children. She sighed again before turning around and walking out of the room back towards the main area. Quickly checking her watch to make note of how long she had to do her snooping.

 _‘Got just an hour to pull this off.’_ Charlie inhaled and straighten her back as she entered the showroom; doing best to keep the worry from showing in her face while making a beeline for the booth closest to the hallway leading to Rick’s office and scanning the room for any employees that could be looking her way.

Once she was confident that they were all busy, she took off the duffle bag and set it onto the booth’s table as a marker before taking off down the still dimly lit hallway. Keeping her footsteps light, she jogged along until she spotted the entrance to the room she’d had her panic attack in. The tiny voice in her head became louder the closer that she got and urged her to go into the party room. 

But neither the room nor what it contained was what Charlie had come to see. She slowed her jog down to a walk as the door to Rick Taylor’s office came into view. The reluctance and worry grew within as she reached out to grab the door handle; only now realizing that she could have almost screwed up her entire plan by not factoring in the possibility that Rick was in his office.

 _Better check to see if he’s in there.’_ She reminded herself and froze with her arm still outstretched. She lowered her hand and dropped her gaze to the floor in an attempt to see if she could make out any light peeking through the bottom. 

When that proved to be somewhat unfavorable, she knelt down so as to be eye level with it; the crack between the bottom of the door and the floor showing nothing more than darkness beyond the threshold. Satisfied that Rick wasn’t in, Charlie stood back up with a deep sigh. That was one part of sneaking into the office down, now came the part that would either make or break her little mission. 

Her hand moved over towards the doorknob and this time she took hold of it with an almost vice-like grip. After a few more seconds of hesitating, she twisted the knob hard to the left. To her amazement, the knob turned without any resistance. She slowly pushed open the office door as what little light the hallway gave off began illuminating the darkened room. Charlie momentarily held her breath as though she expected Rick Taylor to come rushing out of the darkness to demand to know why she was poking around where she didn’t belong. But there was nothing aside from her own breathing and the faint sound of a playing music box. Charlie quickly stepped through the door and turned on the light before quietly shutting it behind her. 

Rick’s office was much different from the rest of the pizzeria, to the point where it almost looked out of place. The floor was carpeted as opposed to tiled, with light grey walls that gave off a somewhat homely feel to it. Placed along the walls were various pictures of Rick and the various people that had been important to him throughout his life. 

As Charlie slowly moved across the room, her eyes caught a glimpse of a photograph behind Rick’s desk that contained a couple familiar faces. She went closer to it and stared into the eyes of her father for the first time since she’d moved to Brookhaven. The picture was of him, Rick and William Afton standing outside of the old Freddy’s in Hurricane during its own grand opening..Rick had his arms wrapped around his partner’s shoulders with a grin that seemed to be shared by both of them. But further, inspection showed that Henry and William weren’t fully sharing Rick’s enthusiasm. 

As always, Henry's mind seemed to be somewhere else. His eyes trained off in the distance, looking at something that only he could see. William on the other hand seemed to be totally in the moment yet simultaneously, not be there at all.

Charlie felt sick to her stomach and tore her gaze away from the picture before she could look any closer. She hugged herself tight as a shudder ran through her body and it took several deep breaths to calm herself down before she was able to head over to Rick’s desk, trying her best to avert her gaze away from William’s emotionless stare. 

Rick’s desk, much like the man himself, was in a state of orderly chaos. From a distance, everything appeared to be organized in a professional manner. But a closer look revealed that all of the professionalism was just a mask, with everything being compiled into a system that only made sense to just one person. Finding the information she needed wasn’t going to be easy, but she’d come too far to back out now. 

She bit her lip and frustratedly exhaled before beginning her trek through the mess of a desk. Carefully going over every paper and then setting it back exactly where she’d found it. But with each paper she overturned, the more frustrated Charlie became. 

After a couple of minutes of fruitless searching, she decided to give up on the desktop and instead decided to try her luck going through the drawers. She knelt down and quietly slid open the top drawer. But to her dismay, the drawer looked to be just as cluttered as the desk if not more so. 

The only advantage that set it apart from the desktop was that the folders had been labeled, with one, in particular, sticking out to her. It was close to the back and was colored a dark grey as though Rick had wanted to hide it while keeping it distinct from the rest. She reached out and plucked it from the drawer. The quickly made label saying only two words, but those two words told her that she’d found exactly what she’d been looking for. Written on the little tag in sharpie were the words **“Police Reports.”**

A mixed wave of both relief and satisfaction washed over Charlie as she opened the folder. The very first paper was a copy of the statement that Rick had made about the supposed spring lock theft, with several attached photos taken of an area of the restaurant that Charlie had never seen before. All of which were focused on a broken pile of wood on the floor. 

She looked closely at the pictures, trying to discern what details she could when her eyes came to rest upon a figure looming in the background. Charlie audibly gasped as she realized that she was looking at the _original_ Freddy Fazbear. Strapped down to a wooden palette like a wild animal. 

‘ _It’s them...he really did bring them all here.’_ Charlie hurriedly flipped through the other photos to try and see if she could spot any of the others. Although the camera’s focal point had been on the broken wood, she was able to see what looked to be Bonnie’s legs along with most of Foxy’s body in several of the pictures. She shivered and resisted the urge to clutch her arm when she saw the pirate fox’s infamous hook before turning her attention back towards the report that Rick had made. 

_“Suspect was last seen working in the Storage Room in the back of the restaurant by owner and proprietor Rick Taylor on the night of the 21st.”_ Charlie read over the sentence under her breath and then closed up the folder before stuffing it back into Rick’s drawer. She finally had what she’d come for, Arty’s last known location before he’d gone missing. It wasn’t much to go off of, but it would help give her a bit of a start. Though she knew that the cops had probably already picked over the whole area, she hoped that she’d be able to find something that they missed. Especially if what she suspected about Arty’s disappearance was indeed true. 

She stepped away from the desk, doing her best to try putting everything back where it’d been when she came in. After she was satisfied that Rick couldn't tell that someone had been in the office, she made her way back out into the hallways. Taking care to once again close the door behind her without a sound.

Finding the storeroom wouldn’t be an easy task, but she didn’t have any time to look for the restaurant’s floor plan. Though, she had a pretty good idea where she could start. Her mind going back to that fateful conversation with Rick in the parking lot and the truck that had nearly run her over. 

She stopped and closed her eyes in an effort to both better focus on the memory and also orient herself so she could head in the right direction. She did her best to recall every detail that could be useful to her; Replaying it until she was certain which side of the building that the truck had driven off towards. After this, she opened her eyes and turned towards the hallway past the “Prize corner.”

“It has to be somewhere around this way,” she said while letting her sentence trail off into a quiet murmur before she quickly checked her watch. 

Her searching through Rick’s office had eaten up almost twenty minutes of the hour that she had to search, meaning that she had to make every following minute count. 

Charlie looked up from her watch and then sprinted down the hallway. Continuing to keep footfalls light as she raced past the prize corner and off into the almost all-consuming near darkness. Not noticing that the strange animatronic that she and John had seen a week ago was once again out of its box.

The animatronics blacked-out eyes appeared to follow Charlie as she ran down the hallway. Silently observing her progress and waiting for her to return. As it had been doing for what had seemed like a lifetime. 

* * *

Discovering where the storeroom was located proved to be a lot more difficult than Charlie had initially thought. As she’d moved further into the back area of the restaurant, the number of employees that were moving about had increased dramatically.

It was expected since the restaurant was active and not abandoned like the original Freddy’s but it still caught her a little off guard. She’d had several close calls, nearly getting spotted because of her urgent carelessness. The time that she had allotted herself dwindling away faster then she’d have liked. 

Ironically, it was one of those close calls that had ultimately led her to where she’d wanted to go. While rounding a corner, Charlie had nearly come face to face with a pair of employees walking in the opposite direction. Her reflexes had been the only thing that kept her from being discovered as she ducked back around the corner and pressed her back up against the nearest wall. 

Her intent had been to just hide and wait for them to pass before continuing her search. But instead of moving past her, they turned towards a pair of large doors that were set into the nearby wall. 

Charlie held her breath, eyes widening as she watched one of the employees pull a ring of keys out to unlock the doors. She wasn’t able to pick up on what they were saying, but given that the one without the keys was pulling a hand-trolley told her that she’d once again found her mark. She winced as the doors let out a squeal while opening, then watched impatiently as the employees entered the storeroom. Waiting until the one with the keys had let go and followed his companion to make her move. 

As the door began swinging shut, Charlie raced across the hallway. The squeal masking her footsteps as she grabbed onto the door handle. Nearly gasping as the heavy door continued on inching its way back into place despite her grip on it. 

Luckily, her sudden movement had managed to slow it down enough that she was able to slip around it and into the storage room itself. The heavy door closing behind her with a bone-rattling sound as it slammed back into place. The noise of it nearly caused Charlie to leap out of her skin, but thankfully it wasn’t enough to draw the employee’s attention as they had already disappeared behind one of the nearby rows of shelves. 

After waiting another minute to ensure that no one would be checking out the sound of the door closing, Charlie took in the full immensity of the storeroom. Part of her was unable to believe that a place like Freddy’s needed such a huge storage area, but then she remembered that Savior Savers' own storage room was just as large despite being a smaller building then the restaurant. Charlie quickly cut off her thoughts when she heard the sound of the employees that she’d followed in coming back towards her. Instinctively, she darted away from the door to stay out of their sight. Moving quietly along the outer edge of the aisles while keeping her eyes peeled for her father's old creations.

It was only when she reached the very end of the room that she saw them. All of them now propped up against the wall with a few rows of caution tape stretched in front of them to keep unauthorized employees away.. Almost like they were animals in a zoo despite being positioned like soldiers standing guard over a treasure. 

The sight of them made Charlie shudder as she looked them all over. Their plastic eyes seemed to stare out at nothing and yet everything all at once, As though they were waiting for something that only they knew was coming. 

Charlie just hoped that she wasn’t what they were waiting for and cautiously, began walking in front of them. Her expression turned sour as she met the animatronics’ gazes. Each one looked as though they were trying to avoid having to acknowledge her presence. She stopped at the end of the row and turned herself to fully face the red fox that lay before her. Unlike the others, his gaze had leveled itself to stare directly at the space where Charlie now stood. 

She crossed her arms and stared at the fox’s with a furrowed brow in an effort to prevent the sight of her old enemy from intimidating her. Her right hand squeezing her left arm as she thought back to what the fox had done to her. When it's struck her arm, Carlton had blamed himself for touching its controls. But that explanation had become unsatisfactory to Charlie after everything else that had happened at the old restaurant. 

Because of this, Foxy had moved down from Charlie’s least favorite to the only one that she outright hated. A fact that she’d been more than vocal about whenever the subject had been brought up. But her hatred of the machine didn’t get rid of the fear that the memories created for her.

Which was why she nearly screamed when the fox’s head violently tilted to the left with a startling “thunk.” As though it had been forcibly shoved in that direction by an unseen hand. Charlie jumped back from the animatronic and snapped her head in the direction he’d looked in. Almost expecting to either see an employee or even Rick himself coming towards her.

But instead, she found herself taking note of an oddity in the way that the nearby shelves had been placed. The section that the animatronics were facing appeared to be closer than it should have been. A quick glance back up the row revealed how the whole assembly had been bent in a way that it wasn’t meant to. The little voice in her head chose to return as she took this in, urging her onward in her curiosity.

After taking in a deep gulp of air, Charlie stepped over to the shelves to continue her investigation. The little voice becoming more and more excited with every step she took. Her attention was drawn to the floor as she noticed several scuff marks that lead to where the shelves currently stood.

The scuffs had been made in an arcing angle, as though the shelves had been pulled outward like someone opening up a door. She walked along the length of them, looking back every so often to make sure that no one, human or animatronic, was sneaking up behind her.

When she reached the back wall, she took notice of another oddity with the shelves. Where the last support pole met the wall, there were grooves in the metal. As if something powerful had grabbed hold of it and unintentionally bent the metal in the process. But didn’t make a lot of sense to her as to why someone would need to grab the shelves like this to move them aside.

As she leaned in to get a closer look at the groves in the metal, something that lay just behind the shelves caught her attention. She reached out and began moving aside some of the boxes in order to get a better view and quickly found herself staring into what looked to be a doorway. Charlie stepped back, becoming confused than satisfied by the discovery as her curiosity began to overpower her once more. 

_'Was this accidental, or intentional?’_ She asked herself before walking back over and gripping the dented metal in an attempt to pull the shelves aside. But after a couple of tries, she came to realize just how strong whatever had moved them had to be in order to do this. Which only resulted in the nerves within her building up to a near boiling point. 

After one final effort, Charlie let go of the metal and tried to think of a better way to get to the doorway. Her brain wracking with ideas on how to get a look into what lay in the darkness. The thoughts in her head seemed to be planted by an unseen presence that was determined to force its will upon her.

It was then that Charlie had what normally would have been a terrible idea, but in her determined state seemed to be a smart move. Kneeling down, she began to shove aside the numerous boxes that were blocking her path. Her gut screaming at her to stop as her brain pushed her onward.

Before long, Charlie had managed to make a clear path to the doorway. It wasn’t much, but she figured it wouldn't be too tight of a squeeze. After taking another deep inhale of air to suck everything in, she began crawling her way across the bottom shelf.

Moving around the boxes had indeed given her some legroom, but it was still a rather cramped experience for her. Every part of her body except her head seemed to constantly bump into something that she couldn't quite see. But despite the pain and reservations, she couldn't give up now... Not when she was so close to whatever the little voice in her mind was urging her to find. 

With one final push, Charlie managed to squeeze herself out from the shelves and through the doorway. Falling onto the floor with a relieved gasp, the strain of moving through the boxes having taken its toll. 

But as she took in a few gulps of air, a rather pungent odor began filling her nostrils. One that was strong enough to activate her gag reflex and force her to cover her nose. As she slowly stood up and began looking around the darkened room she realized that it was little more than a broom closet. Unintentionally sealed away when they’d put up the shelves. 

As Charlie turned her head to the wall nearest to her, the source of the smell made itself known. Her eyes widened as they fell upon Arty’s disfigured visage. A panicked shriek rising within her that was quelled only by her own shock as she looked over the corpse. Arty’s head and neck had been forced into an angle that could only be described as unnatural. His withered, rotten face had a last look of horror etched onto the decayed features. His body was slumped against the wall like someone had attempted to prop it upright but the weight of the body had caused its collapse.

Charlie took a step away from him, her whole body shaking violently as tears began to well up in her eyes. Never before had she so regretted being right in her assumptions.  


_‘Rick was wrong, he never even left the Pizzeria….’_ The hand over Charlie’s mouth and nose began to squeeze down tighter in an effort to keep herself from screaming. While she’d seen Officer Dunn’s body back in Hurricane, he’d only been dead for a couple of hours. It was nothing compared to a corpse that had been laying out for what Charlie knew to have been almost a whole month.

While stepping back, she felt something hard to get caught underneath her shoe. Charlie froze in place with her eyes still trained on the corpse as though it might come to life and attack her. But the little voice in the back of her mind once again began encouraging her curiosity. Calling for her to inspect what lay beneath her feet. 

Stiffly, Charlie knelt down while continuing to keep her gaze firmly on Arty’s remains. Refusing to break eye contact even as she lifted her foot to snatch up whatever she’d stepped on. But the jingling of metal on metal finally drew her gaze down to the object that she’d picked up.

Her hand slowly rose to her face and revealed that what she’d stepped on was a set of keys. Each one with a little label that had been written in sharpie, though she couldn't make out what was written on them in the dark. She looked from the keys and back over to Arty’s body, going numb as she realized that she was holding his work keys in her hands. 

Everything blanked out at the same time and she took another step away from the corpse. Every choice that she’d made leading to this moment flashing across her mind like lightning as though it were replaying to show her where she should have backed out. 

The thoughts came to a sudden end as something fell upon her shoulder and squeezed it tight. Her blood ran cold as she heard the crackling of ancient, plastic fur. Charlie spun around and finally let out the scream that she’d been holding back as she laid eyes on the yellow rabbit.

It’s awful white eyes staring down at her in a mixture of annoyance and curiosity. The simile etched into its face becoming smaller as its lower jaw clamped up against the upper part of the suit’s face. Charlie jerked back and tore herself from the animatronics’ grasp. Her stomach heaving as she desperately gasped for air but then locked up as the suit stepped forward with a clank of metal and a rattle of plastic.  


The arm that had grabbed her stretching outwards to take hold of her once again. The rotten fingers unfurling like a claw ready to grasp its prey. As it got closer Charlie's body began to move once again, adrenaline pumped through her as she spun around and dove back into the pathway that she’d made. Trying to quickly push herself through the boxes in an effort to get away from the suit. But before she could pull herself all the way through, she felt a hand grasp tightly around her ankle.

Charlie didn’t look back to see what had grabbed it, she already knew that the suit had caught her. Her free leg kicked out and she felt it strike against something. But it wasn’t enough to deter the rabbit from trying to pull her back into the little room. Twisting her body around, Charlie looked back at the creature and kicked out once more. This time landing a strike against the rabbit’s lower jaw and causing it to reel back from the force. Immediately the pressure eased up as the hand fell away and she began continuing her way through the boxes.

Just as she’d managed to reach the aisle that she’d entered in from, the entire shelf assembly began to rattle. Charlie had halfway climbed out when it started and she could only yell in surprise as the movement sent her spilling onto the floor. 

Despite the pain shooting through her body, Charlie didn’t let it slow her down. She scrambled to her feet and began sprinting away as the shelves behind her began to scrape along the floor. Boxes full of various items clattering down r and bursting open. Their contents spilling out like a dam that had broken open in a storm. 

Before she even reached the end of the aisle, Charlie could hear the sounds of angry, padded feet charging after her. Her father’s old creations letting out electronic screeches as the rabbit suit ran past them. Either in an attempt to warn Charlie, or to cheer on their newest band member.

Charlie raced on, not looking back as she rounded the corner to begin a desperate sprint towards the storeroom doors. The little voice urged her to turn back and face the rabbit, but this time its pleas went ignored. There was no way she’d be able to face that thing on her own and survive. The angry footsteps grew louder, moving faster than Charlie had thought possible for the older suits.

Thankfully, she managed to reach the doors before the rabbit could catch up with her. She seized hold of the door handle and pulled it open with all of her might. The squealing masking the sound of the rabbit’s footsteps as she dove through them and into the back area of the Pizzeria. Not waiting for the door to shut before she continued on running away.

The voice in her head made a final plea for her to turn back, but it was quickly shoved down by her fear that she was still being followed. A feeling that was only intensified by the sound of the storeroom door suddenly impacting against the wall. The sound gave Charlie a final burst of energy that allowed her to outpace the rabbit before it even had the chance to follow her.

She tore through the hallways until she’d made it all the way back to the main showroom. Stumbling out of the hallway, the initially hurried pace slowing to a half-hearted jog as she slipped into the thankfully still unoccupied booth that she’d set the day bag into. Both her head and chest were throbbing while her stomach somersaulted as the adrenaline began draining out of her system.

Sinking into her seat, Charlie inhaled sharply as she let everything that had just happened to her sink in. Her hands shook violently despite her attempts to calm down. Her entire body aching and throbbing from all the exertion. She was hurt, not just physically but emotionally as well. It was beginning to prove too much for her to handle on her own, her worst fears being confirmed in one, quick, awful moment. Already she could feel the world around her beginning to melt away as her chest began tightened up. Several guests turned in her direction to see what was going on, but their stares went ignored by the young girl who had become lost in a nightmarish reality that she was desperate to wake up from.

She wanted to wake up back in bed with John, to listen to him talk about his projects while also unwinding from the long work week. No new Freddy’s, no Arty, and no rotten suit from her past trying to tear her apart. A silent sob escaped her lips as she covered her face and closed her eyes. Wishing desperately for that hopeful dream to become a reality,

But she was quickly brought back when she felt something metallic touch her skin. Charlie pulled her hand back and looked at it in surprise upon seeing that she’d brought along Arty’s keys. Her eyes widening as she slowly turned them over in her hand, examining each key as though they were a precious treasure that would melt away when she took her eyes off it. But before she could examine the keys any further, her watch began beeping.

She jumped up and flicked her arm a way that allowed her to see her wrist. To her mixed relief, she’d made it back just in time to pick up the boys from the play area. Leaning back in her seat, she closed her eyes and tried to compose herself. Not wanting anyone, especially Millie or the boys to know that something was off. 

After taking a minute to relax, Charlie shakily rose to her feet to begin her trek back to the play area. All the while looking over her shoulder to make sure that she wasn’t being followed by the monster that she knew lived inside the restaurant.

A monster that she’d created and unintentionally released back into the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I believe, after this final stand...the end will come, but not until you're gone.   
> I'm haunted, a killer in a cage, using my undoing as my pawn...


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So I'm back to trying this whole weekly chapters thing! I feel hopeful that I can pull it off once again but if I get a bunch of reviews saying that the stories quality has dropped, then I will go back to bi-weekly chapters. But again, I'm just gonna leave this up to you guys to decide. Let me know what you all think and I'll see you all next time! 
> 
> Enjoy the show!

When Charlie picked up John from the library, she discovered that he was in a much better mood than he’d been earlier in the day. Mostly owing to the fact that he’d been able to finish both his project and some additional homework. 

She was pleased to see him in such a good mood, especially since it meant that he’d forgotten the earlier tension between them. But despite his good mood, Charlie found herself unable to share in the jubilation.   
While she had tried to hide it, it was very clear that she was entrapped in a blanket of anxious melancholy that had also sapped all her energy. Her attempts at staying engaged with the conversation continually feel short, not that she’d been all that interested, to begin with as her focus remained on trying to burn the yellow rabbit’s visage from within her head. 

A task that became harder when John tried innocently asking how things had gone with Millie. It was a simple enough question, but Charlie still became evasive so as not to give him the full story of the day's events.

Never giving John much more than simple answers that she hoped would placate him enough to avoid any follow-up questions. But even then John managed to pick up on the hints of both shock and pain hidden in her voice, which made him decide to quickly table the subject for another time. To this end, he quickly changed the subject to what they were going to do for dinner. 

However, Charlie didn't contribute much to that conversation either, claiming she wasn't hungry. A claim quickly disputed by her stomach making an upset sounding growl. Despite trying to deny it, John decided to cook something special for them both as a way of celebrating their now freed up weekend. 

While John started working in the kitchen, Charlie took a seat at the table and watched him cook. Her face rested tiredly in her hands while she lazily traced a finger across her cheek in silent thought. 

The day’s events had given her a lot to think about while also shattering whatever sense of security she’d had left. The presence of the new Freddy’s had already damaged it, but seeing her father’s creations alongside the yellow rabbit had left her jumping at every shadow for the rest of the day. She’d tried to keep her anxiety from showing too much, but by the time Millie had come back, it was clear that the day had taken a toll on her.

Thankfully, it seemed like everyone was willing to chalk it up to wrangling the twins all day since they weren’t too thrilled that their babysitter had suddenly decided that they needed to stay where she could see them. 

But letting them out of her sight hadn’t been an option, not after what she’d seen in that backroom. Thinking about it caused a shiver to go through Charlie's body, the movement catching John’s attention as he looked up from his cooking. He gave her a concerned look, but Charlie was already trying to wave him off before he could say anything. 

“I’m fine, just a little cold.” She said before quickly zipping up her jacket. John quietly looked at her and then glanced down at the meal he was preparing before looking back up at her. 

“Not to sound mean but you’re looking a little tired; would you like to take a nap while I’m cooking?” John asked, his voice becoming soft “This is going to take me a bit-”

“No!” Charlie jumped up, her body becoming ramrod straight and causing both of them to flinch at the sudden intensity of her voice. Charlie let out a heavy breath before remorse took over her face and she slowly lowered her gaze towards the floor. “I’m fine right here.”

John looked to the side and momentarily mulled over his own thoughts before looking back down at the food. He set back to work with an airy sigh, before looking up at Charlie with a sympathetic expression. 

“Okay, but just.....let me know if you need anything okay? If there’s anything wrong then...feel free to tell me whenever you're ready.” There was no response from Charlie, but he hadn’t expected one after seeing how upset she looked.

Her gaze was still settled on the floor, but her mind seemed to be somewhere else entirely. She wanted to think over everything that had happened without distraction while also staying close to John. Being alone after what she’d experienced was the last thing she wanted. But even his presence didn’t stop the memories from flowing out from the deepest parts of her mind the second her eyes began slowly closing. Her mind already trying to trap her in a loop that replayed everything that she’d experienced earlier in the day, from finding Arty to the suit chasing her through the storeroom.

With each replay, the suit’s rectus grin began slowly transforming into Dave’s face. The same disgusting look that he’d worn when they’d first met. His voice ringing in her ears and echoing his remark about her being “something beautiful.” Like a broken record, the memory-making Charlie queasy and causing cold tears to begin streaming down her face. Her breath hitching as her body grew tenser the more she thought about the suit bearing down on her like an angry bull. 

Right as it was about to reach her Charlie felt a hand lay on her shoulder, accompanied by a distant voice calling her name. She snapped from her memories and jumped out of her seat. The sudden movement caused her to nearly throw herself against the nearby wall as she shakily gasped for air while trying to bring her back to reality. Her heart pounded in her chest as it tried to slow down from the sudden jolt. 

She heard the voice call out again to her again, this time much softer than it’d been before. Another shiver ran through Charlie’s body as she wiped away the tears from her eyes. After she’d cleared them away she looked up and saw John staring at her with concerned filled eyes. She returned his gaze for a few seconds before turning her head away and wiping away at her face again. 

“I-I’m...fine. I’m fine.” She said, more to herself than to John. She turned back to him and opened her mouth to speak again but found herself unable to talk. An attempt to force the words out but that just resulted in her making a noise that almost sounded inhuman. 

After a moment of silence, John silently offered a hand towards Charlie to give her something to hold. While he wanted to talk about what was bothering her, he knew that she needed to calm down first.   
Charlie felt her face involuntarily scrunch up as she stared blankly at the outstretched arm. Despite knowing that he’d probably already seen her crying, his silent offer drove everything she’d feared home. She’d wanted to keep this whole thing private and put everything to rest on her own without getting anyone else involved, but the Yellow Rabbit’s new life had made everything become more complicated and had subsequently left Charlie feeling as though there was no one she could turn to.

While she would normally trust John, she’d intentionally misled him about what she’d done. Something that she felt would make things worse if it came to light. 

Charlie looked down at the floor and stepped forward. Her arms at her sides as she tried to move past John and go into the bathroom to try calming herself down so she could postpone the inevitable conversation they’d have after dinner. 

But she failed to notice how far back the chair had moved when she stood up and because she was distracted, her foot managed to the edge of it and made her stumble before then pitching forward with a surprised yelp. She didn’t fall very far though, as John quickly moved in to catch her. Throwing his arms around her body and then pulling into a tight hug. Charlie initially gasped from the sudden embrace, but then eagerly returned it. Her fingers bunching up the fabric of his shirt as she sunk her face into his chest, unintentionally drying her tears before she started to mumble an apology. 

“Hey...it’s okay. Bad days happen to everybody.” John whispered before tucked Charlie’s head underneath his chin and giving her a comforting squeeze. He felt Charlie tremble as she pulled back and looked up at him with tears once more spilling down her face. 

“No, it’s not…” she stammered out and then looked back down at the floor. Her words quickly devolved into incoherent mumbling as she tried to come up with a means of tactfully telling John what had happened. But she quickly found herself unable to stop it all from coming out at once. “I went back…I went back to Freddy’s with Millie and her cousins. I snuck into the back areas to try getting some answers about what happened to Arty and found this big storeroom that had all my dad’s creations and...” Charlie felt a lump form as the words became caught in her throat. A final attempt to stop them, but they managed to slip out nonetheless after a few seconds of silence. 

“I found Arty….and” She finally said, “...D-Dave...the suit... his suit b-but...it was alive and it chased me out of there.” 

John had remained silent while Charlie made her confession. Not a noise came from him aside from his breathing as he let each word sink in. Knowing that he’d been correct in his assumptions about her real motives didn’t make him feel any better. Though he was a little concerned about why she’d felt like she needed to hide what she was doing. But even then he wasn’t angry at Charlie for what she’d done, since John knew that he'd probably have done the same in her position. All of the possible outcomes of this situation were bad ones, with many of them having the chance of directly impacting both of them. 

But when she spoke about Dave, he felt a cold chill run up his spine as he realized that the worst outcome had come true. He squeezed Charlie just a bit tighter and looked back down at her. 

“You mean...he’s like...Michael and the others he killed now?” He asked quietly while trying to keep his voice calm. 

“Yes,” Charlie said, her voice cracking a little. “Arty never took the suit, the suit took him and then...I let the suit escape!” 

John quickly pulled Charlie close, her face burying itself into his chest as a sob escaped her throat. His reassurance was a falsehood though on his end though, John was now terrified at the prospect of Dave running around the Pizzeria. A feeling that he realized Charlie must have had to put up with all day. Which made him only want to hug her tighter and never let go. 

“God,” He whispered to himself, “I can’t believe it…” His voice trailing off, but his thoughts went unfinished as Charlie suddenly spoke up again. 

“Why-” She asked her voice once again muffled by John’s shirt before she repeated herself in a louder voice. 

“Why him? Why does _he_ get to come back over my dad, or Sammy, or anyone else that’s more deserving of it?” Charlie tensed up as what she at first assumed was the memory of what the voice from Freddy’s had said suddenly came back into her mind. The memories of what it’d whispered to her while fueling the transformation of her despair into burning anger. 

_‘He belongs in the darkest pits of hell…not hanging around the new Freddy’s like a creep.’_ Her knuckles turned white as she tightly balled up her fists. A sneer crossing her features as she inhaled sharply. She felt John’s hand stroke her hair, but it, unfortunately, wasn’t enough to calm her down. 

The more she mulled over it, the angrier she became. Not just at Dave’s continued existence, but she also felt her initial anger towards Rick starting to return. Having seen all of the pictures in his office, she knew that he cared a lot about her father. But he must have either not cared or been totally insane to bring her father’s animatronics to his new Freddy’s. Or even just building a new one in the first place In doing so, he’d helped unleash the monster that Dave had become into the world.

Even if Charlie had been the one to open the boxes as it were. A box that wouldn't have been there if Rick had just left well enough alone.

As the little voice continued to stoke up her anger, an idea began to form. A similar idea to the one that had landed her in this mess, to begin with, normally she’d reject it. But the voice had other ideas as it rushed the idea forward; mixing it in with her anger till it was the only thing on her mind. She looked back up at John with a hardened gaze as resolve filled her voice. 

“We need to stop that thing before it hurts anyone else,” Charlie whispered gravely. The words caused John to stiffen up and look down at her in alarm. 

“You mean, go back and try to destroy that suit? Because there’s no way that we’d be able to fight it, not without losing our lives or getting hurt.” 

“Well, Rick’s certainly not going to do anything about it. Once he finds that suit he'll probably just put it back with the others and then this whole thing will just start over again. I’ve been inside his office and talked to him more than you. He worships my dad, so there’s absolutely no way he’d destroy any of his creations.” 

“But we don’t even know how to destroy them ourselves,” John said, trying to keep his pleading voice from coming across as angry. “We’ve both seen what these things can be put through and those were just scared, little kids.”

“We can’t just let him have free reign to do whatever he wants again. We barely made it out, so what chance does anyone in Brookhaven have? We’re the only ones who know how to deal with this.” Charlie’s eyes narrowed and she turned away from John. Crossing her arms and letting out an angry huff. 

“Do we?” John asked. “Because if I recall, we never really came close to beating any of the animatronics. I mean, yeah we managed to hurt them a few times sure and you did a pretty good job electrocuting Chica but they never stayed down. Not to mention what Foxy did to your arm and leg-” 

“That doesn't mean that we shouldn't try and do something!” Charlie snapped back, the mention of her wounds further flaring up her temper. For a moment, there was silence as John contemplated what to say next. Not warning to escalate the situation into a fight. 

“I’m not saying that I disagree, but if we’re really going to do this then we’d think things through before doing something stupid,” John said, trying to make his voice sound calm. “If we want to take on Dave again then I want an actual plan this time, not just us charging in like we did when Carlton was kidnapped because… I don’t want to see you getting hurt like that again.” 

“If you’re really serious about doing them with this then I’ll have your back. But we need to be careful.” He said before reaching out his hands towards hers. The anger that was still bubbling within Charlie wanted to pull away from him again. The little voice in her head already called him a coward for not wanting to rush into action right now, but Charlie managed to push it aside. He was right when he said that they had no means of fighting them off, at least in a way that could keep them down. 

Planning ahead would give them time to figure out what could hurt them, even though Charlie feared that the time for that wasn’t on their side.   
As John's hands came closer she reached out and gave them a squeeze before pulling him back into a hug. The anger abating as they gave each other a reassuring squeeze. For half a minute before they broke apart and stared at each other. John taking the opportunity to reach out and touch Charlie’s face. She leaned into it with a sad smile and took hold of his wrist with a sign. 

“I’m sorry for all of this…” She murmured. “I just want this all to end…” 

“I know, But we won’t get anything done by rushing it like last time,” John said as they pressed their foreheads together. At that moment, both of their stomachs let out a simultaneous growl.

“Or on an empty stomach,” Charlie said, a wary smile appearing as she attempted to lighten the mood. Her effort was rewarded by some hesitant laughter from John. Charlie looked over to the living room and then slowly turning her gaze back to John 

“Hey if it’s alright with you, I think I’ll take a nap while you make dinner… on the couch..” Charlie said, adding the last part rather quickly before hurrying over to the couch without waiting for a reply.   
Despite their attempt at a quick reconciliation, Charlie could feel the tenseness from their conversation still hanging in the air like a storm cloud. It’d be a little while before things fully smoothed over from their argument, a feeling stirred up her already churning stomach. They’d rarely had any arguments in their time as a couple and to have one now had hurt Charlie almost as much as the day’s earlier revelations. 

Even though all of their ups and downs, she’d always been able to rely on John to be there for her. But all of the recent events seemed to have strained that connection a bit, not by too much, but it was enough to make her worried about their future. 

' _All the more reason to try and put this whole thing behind us as soon as possible.’_ She thought while settling down on the couch. Only acquiescing to her body’s demands of rest to try and soothe the underlying tension that had invaded their apartment. 

But as she lay down, something moved inside of her jacket pocket with a faint jingle, like that of keys being jostled around. Charlie reached into her pocket and pulled out the keys she’d picked up from the little backroom closet. The ones that had belonged to Arty. She’d hidden them away in her pockets after picking up the boys, almost forgotten about them entirely until now. As though they were trying to get her back into the mindset of going back once again. 

Charlie reached out and flicked on the nearby lamp, gazing down at the keys now in her possession. Thanks to the light, she was now able to make out what was written on each of the keys. A lot of them were for rather innocuous things, but one key stuck out to her in particular. 

“Master Key.” She read the words aloud slowly, her grip on the key tightening as she realized what she held in her hands. The keys would allow them both unrestricted access to Freddy’s, they could go in whenever they wanted without anyone being the wiser. 

Charlie froze suddenly as the faint sound of a more familiar voice echoed inside her mind _._ Much fainter than the one from Freddy’s, but still just as intrusive. Unlike the new voice though, this one was trying to make her stop her current train of thought. But the voice only managed to stall it momentarily before fading out of her mind. Pushed out by the presence of Freddy’s. However, the interruption had been enough to make her set the keys down onto the same end table as the lamp. After her little spat with John, she didn’t want to think about Freddy’s for a while. She reached out to flick off the lamp before rolling over and closing her eyes. 

But her mind quickly disregarded her wishes, for even while she slept, the little voice from Freddy’s returned once more. Stirring up her thoughts in an effort to make her come up with some sort of plan that would bring about the rabbit’s end. For only when that suit was destroyed, would any of them be allowed to truly rest...

* * *

Rick had been in a shareholder meeting when he’d gotten a frantic call from one of the managers that someone had trashed part of the storeroom. After hurriedly wrapping up the meeting, Rick made his way over to the pizzeria to discover that they’d finally found Arty during the cleanup. Or rather, the twisted corpse that used to be Arty that was hidden away in a forgotten closet. 

Everything after the discovery had all become a blur in Rick’s mind aside from a few details here and here. The biggest memory being how he’d directed the police to enter through the loading area so that the customers would remain unaware of their grisly find. Something like this was the last thing that the restaurant needed to get out to the press. 

Luckily for him, the investigation had been mostly contained to the storeroom, but that could hardly be seen as a victory since it left them with more questions than answers. Especially since Spring-Bonnie was still missing and the fact that he’d turned up dead didn’t clear Arty of any wrongdoing. 

After they’d concluded their search, several of the investigators had presented their newest theory about how the theft had occurred. Instead of Arty being the one responsible, they now believed that he’d been dispatched by the same criminals that had stolen the Spring-Bonnie suit. Whether or not he’d been in on it and had been subsequently betrayed was another matter entirely.   
But whatever theories they came up with didn't change one fact, the suit was still missing and that was the only thing that mattered to Rick. 

The idea that someone had broken into the restaurant twice now left Rick unsettled. If they were able to walk in and out with a suit that weighed almost a thousand pounds then what was stopping them from doing the same with a child? 

This question had kept Rick in his office long after closing so he could try to think of what could be done so it didn't happen again. Initially, the idea of hiring a security guard had crossed his mind, but knowing that he’d need to provide some form of compensation to Arty’s family had destroyed that idea. As doing so would require the use of whatever spare funds were currently at their disposal. 

While he wasn’t a financial guru like William, Rick knew how to calculate the numbers well enough to know that they wouldn't have the money to hire a guard for a while. He’d spent a good chunk of the night going over their finances to see if the budget could be shifted about so he could hire a guard for at least a couple of weeks. But his financiers had gone over the budget with such a fine-tooth comb that he couldn't even move around a few cents without throwing it all off. 

After he’d conceded defeat Rick pulled away from his desk and wiped at his tired eyes. The digital clock on his desk telling him that it was far too late to still be in the office. But he wasn’t ready to leave, not until he’d thought up a solution to stop these thieves before things got worse. 

With a deep sigh, he turned around to face the large picture of himself, William, and Henry back in Utah. A nostalgic look crossing Rick’s face as he stared up at the photograph with another sigh. 

“Ah If only the two of you were still here.” He whispered. “I bet we’d have this whole thing nipped in the bud before it even started.” The picture didn’t give Rick a response, not that he’d been expecting one. But it felt good to sink into those memories for just a little bit, his mind creating the mental image of his former partners arguing over the best way to solve this situation.

William would advocate they cut costs, though he’d never actually go through with it, while Henry would start dreaming up some kind of security animatronic to protect the kids. Something that he’d been planning long before they’d even laid the groundwork for the original Freddy’s, but William had always talked him out of it. Usually by citing the already high costs that running Freddy’s required, meaning that building such a machine would have been a waste of company resources. 

It was the willingness to create that animatronic that made Rick disbelieve the rumors that Henry had something to do with the children’s disappearances. If the people who’ve pointed fingers and spread the rumors had known about Sammy, then they would have left Henry alone. 

The memories of those awful months leading up to Henry’s death reignited his focus to prevent something like that from happening again. But as he turned around, his leg collided with a partially opened desk drawer. 

Rick yelped in both surprise and pain before looking down at the offending drawer. Only for his eyes to widen when he saw that it was the drawer that contained all the information about the new animatronics, which he hadn’t had any reason to open. 

He furiously yanked open the drawer and did a visual check of its contents, while everything seemed to be in its proper place he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. He knelt down and began rifling through the folders, focusing his efforts on the ones that he felt that the thieves would be most interested in. 

After half an hour of upturning that drawer, Rick allowed himself to sigh with relief once he was satisfied that everything was still there. While he was thankful that nothing had been stolen, the possibility had left his nerves more than a little frayed. 

As he began sorting away the papers, Rick continued to think about ways that he could make the restaurant safer without blowing the budget. But every idea kept falling short, if the thieves had someone on the inside that wasn’t Arty then anything he came up with could be easily worked around by an employee. 

“There has to be something we can do...” He murmured. “Maybe I should call my backers together and see if they can come up with another idea.” 

Admitting that there was a problem to the backers would have normally been the last thing he’d do, but that was before someone had been murdered on the property. Plus, it’d be better if they found out from him and not from another source. Absentmindedly, he glanced down to make sure he was still putting things back in their right folders and then caught a glimpse of a few bolded words on the paper in his hands. He looked it over and froze, giving his full attention to the document as he slowly read over the words a couple more times. 

Right there on the paper, were the words “ **Security Mode Protocols.”** followed by a quick description of what they did. Rick fully unfurled the document and began pouring over the contents. Reading each word aloud in order to commit it all to memory. Despite basing everything off of Henry’s designs, the construction of the new animatronics had been outsourced to a different company. The new company had added a lot of things to the designs that Rick hadn’t been too happy about and it seemed as though they felt the need to add something extra to the programming as well. 

While Rick wouldn’t normally be okay with it, the current situation had left him rather desperate. This time, he’d let it slide, especially if this would help ensure the safety of his business.   
Even if it meant the restaurant's safety into the hands of its own performers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgive me for being suspicious  
> Mischief's not on my brain  
> We're programmed to be pragmatic  
> If someone messes with the mainframe  
> It's not that we don't trust you  
> We do!  
> (We love you too)  
> It's just that, here's at Freddy's  
> We have a few rules...


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! It's finally here! 
> 
> So sorry for the delay everyone but there was a lot of shit going on these past few weeks, culminating in my car crapping out on me yesterday. But I'm here at last to bring you all the next chapter of this story. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy it and I'll see you all next time!

For all the children that entered Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, the restaurant seemed like it had come out of some sort of fairytale. Full of colorfully bright animals that would welcome their guests into a world that made every kid’s dream come to life. A place where they could run and play to their heart's content without any worries or care.

But for those who worked behind the scenes creating that wonderland of fun, it was something of a different story. Every employee had to do their best to keep up the appearance of Freddy’s “magical nature,” with the most important part of that being the animatronics’ maintenance Each one had to always be in their best possible shape, which was why Rick had invested in a team of dedicated technicians to ensure that they all stayed in perfect working order. After spending the whole day hanging around the stage, most of the technicians would go home before the final show. With one or two of the, staying behind to do a final post-show check. With anything that couldn't be done alone getting passed off to the morning crew.

Many of them considered the final check over one of the most unnerving jobs in the restaurant. Even though Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica had been shut off for the night, the idea of having to poke around them in the had dark scared away more than a few from working late altogether. But Lena Anderson wasn’t as easily scared by these plastic animals like the other staff members were.

Despite her colleagues' apprehensions when it came to working around the animatronics, the thirty-six-year-old had become endeared to the friendly-looking machines despite their initially putting appearance. This fondness is what had led to her being unofficially assigned as the person in charge of performing the final post-show checks. While she didn’t mind the extra work, she always made sure to deride the other technicians for being so easily scared off by a group of cartoonish animals. 

As she carefully moved around each of the animatronics, she noticed that several wires had gotten caught in the joints of Bonnie's upper left arm. While not an immediate or very noticeable problem, If it was left unchecked then the joint would eventually break the wires and cause the whole arm to lock up in whatever position it’d be in at the time. Leaving the poor bunny, and everyone on the technician crew, in a very awkward position.

Lena set her toolbox onto the ground and quickly flipped it open with a loud clank sounding out as the metal lid struck the stage floor. Before the noise's echo had begun to dissipate, it was replaced by the sound of her rifling around for the tools that she'd need for the job.

Once she’d found them all, she carefully laid them out at the rabbit’s feet and then pulled out a heavy-duty flashlight from her belt. Even though the backstage lights were some of the most powerful that Lena had ever seen, they weren’t very helpful when it came to doing repairs. Poking around the interior of the animatronics required a steady light that could be moved around as needed. Hence why she personally preferred using flashlights over the giant lights hanging almost twelve feet above her head.

As Lena stepped over to the blue rabbit with the first of her tools in hand, she took a quick glance towards its face and waved her finger in front of his bright green eyes.

“Stay still.” She commanded, her voice becoming that like that of a mother scolding her child.

She then looked back at the arm and carefully took hold of the ends. Her fingers moved around until they came across a pair of hidden switches that opened up the arm’s plastic shell. Her fingers slid around the switches and carefully flicked them open, taking time to make sure that they didn't snap back into the plastic. Lena gripped hard as the arm casing split open and dropped into her hands. Doing her best to make sure that it didn't crash to the floor and causing an even bigger problem than the one she'd been trying to fix. 

After checking the casing to make sure that it hadn’t cracked from all the movement, Lena set it aside and looked over the arms’ now exposed internals. To her delight, she discovered that the pinched wires weren't too damaged and thus didn’t need to be replaced right away. Meaning that all she had to do done was simply push everything back into place and then tighten up a few bolts.

She could barely contain her glee at the job’s simplicity as she set to work, happy that she didn't have to stay as long as she’d initially planned.

Unfortunately for her, fate had its own plans for how she’d be spending the final hours of her shift. Because just as she was preparing to put the plastic casing back on, a crackle of static burst out of the radio attached to her belt. Lena stopped and set the casing back onto the stage floor as she heard a crackly voice come over the radio.

“Hey Lena, are you still working backstage?” Asked the tired, sounding voice on the other end of the radio. Hearing the voice of her supervisor caused Lena to groan inwardly before she seized the radio and gave the man a rather curt response.

“Yeah, I'm still back here Jeff, just finishing up some repairs on Bonnie’s arm.”

“Oh,” Her supervisor briefly paused before asking, “, what the heck was wrong with him this time?” his tone indicating that he didn't care what the answer was as long as it ended with the words "problem solved." 

“Nothing we have to worry about, least not for a long time,” Lena replied, already annoyed by the sudden interruption to her work. “Whatcha need?”

“Well, I just found a note from the boss. He says that we’ve got someone coming down to dump a bit of extra programming into the animatronics before the morning show. So he wants all of them ready for when the programmers show up and do their thing.”

Lena looked from the radio and over to the animatronics with a questioning look. Confused as to why they’d run the morning shows right after they put in some extra programming. She’d gotten to watch them test out the animatronics before opening day and they’d spent several hours on just the opening speech alone. Sending them out so soon afterward seemed like it’d be asking for a disaster.

“Did he mention what exactly they’d be doing to them?” She asked cautiously, hoping that the question wouldn't set off Jeff’s already short attitude.

“Nope, but then it’s not really our business to know what they’re doing either.” He said, “They just asked us to open up the heads and leave him like that for the crew tomorrow morning.”

“Uh-huh…” Lena trailed off and looked at the floor. While the request was innocuous enough, there was opaqueness to it that left her feeling uncomfortable. But it was Jeff's addendum to the already worrying order that caused her stomach to drop through the floor.

“Hey uh, one more thing I gotta add. The note says that in addition to the ones on stage, Mr. Taylor wants you to prep that Fox in the back party room too.” Lena felt her breath hitch and became glad that Jeff couldn't see the disdain rush over her face.

“O-Okay. I'll get right on that after I'm done up here” Lena didn’t wait to see if Jeff heard her dismayed tone, opting to just slide the radio back onto her belt and ignore anything else that came from it as the frown on her face slowly morphing into a hateful scowl. 

While she loved almost every part of her job, she was rather apprehensive about going into the infamous party room. The general sentiment amongst all of the employees was that there was something about the room’s atmosphere that made it an uncomfortable area to work in. She'd heard all of the stories about strange happenings going on in that room, with almost all of them saying that they’d felt an extra presence in the room with them. As though the room itself was alive and angry at everyone who entered it.

A couple of people had been quick to suggest that the Puppet was causing all of the uncomfortable feelings, even going so far as to claim that it was cursed. Despite the outlandishness of the claim, Lena did have to admit that being around the Puppet was not a pleasant experience.

She’d helped install it after Rick brought it back from Utah and it had almost seemed like it had a mind of its own. It’d taken almost a whole week to set everything up, mainly because all of their hard work would get undone in rather mysterious ways once their backs were turned. The experience had been enough to make Lena swear off ever performing maintenance on it ever again.

This was why the prospect of being around it after hours left her unnerved enough to briefly consider stalling both the repairs on Bonnie as well as the prepping so that the morning crew would have to deal with prepping Foxy. It wasn’t like she was ready for the stage anyway so what was the use of doing anything with her. 

But ignoring a direct order from the CEO wouldn’t reflect well on her employment records, especially since she’d just told Jeff that she was nearly been done with Bonnie's repairs. Stalling for that long would have raised some questions that she’d preferred not being asked in the first place.

“I should’ve just ignored the radio...” she sighed before scooping up the casing and snapping it back into place over Bonnie’s arm. After doing a last-minute check of her work, Lena gave herself a mental pat on the back for a job well done before then moving around to begin prepping the animatronics to receive their new programming.

Much like with Bonnie’s arm, the process required the removal of some of the animatronics outer casing, though it thankfully wasn’t as nerve-wracking. The manufacturing company had decided that instead of removing the animatronics heads, they’d just have a small panel on the back that could be popped on and off with relative ease.

Once she’d finished up prepping the three on stage, Lena closed her toolbox, walked out the stage’s side door, and reluctantly began making her way over to the party room. Her stomach continually twisting up in knots with almost every step she took.

 _‘Just get in, do your thing and leave.’_ Lena’s grip on the toolbox tightened as she made those words repeat in her brain. But that didn’t stop her legs from feeling like they were made of lead the second she saw the party room’s entranceway.

She stopped mid-step and stared up towards the sign that announced the room’s name. The small part of her that wanted to stall returned and suggested that she just turn around and clock out for the night. It’d be easy enough to pretend that she’d forgotten about prepping Foxy. Almost everyone else had forgotten she’d existed anyway.

“No…” Lena straightened her posture and tried to steal her nerves... “, it’s just a piece of cloth and plastic. It can’t hurt you.”

She willed her legs into action, pushing herself over to the entrance and felt some relief wash over her when she noticed that the Puppet’s box was still firmly shut. But upon stepping through the threshold, she was greeted by an immediate wave of negative energy. Almost as though her mere presence had offended whatever was in there.

Lena set her gaze upon the cloaked animatronic in the corner and kept it there as she strode across the room. Refusing to turn her head in the direction of the present box, lest she let her fear override her. Doing her best to keep herself focused on her job l despite the room’s heavy atmosphere.

She jogged across the room and stopped right in front of the covered up fox animatronic, exhaling heavily before reaching up and pulled back the tarp that had been hiding the fox from view. Because everyone had been focusing their time and effort elsewhere in the restaurant, completing Foxy had fallen rather low on the list of priorities.

While most of the animatronic had been put together, there were still quite a few pieces missing from the outer framework. Most notable being her lack of tail and arm coverings, leaving huge chunks of her endoskeleton exposed to the outside world. As she looked over the incomplete frame, Lena found herself feeling sorry for the poor thing The initial fear of the party room quickly getting replaced by an urge to stay and complete the fox so that she would be able to finally sing and dance in her full glory.

But those thoughts were quickly dispelled by the energy in the room suddenly increasing in hostility, the sensation causing goosebumps to appear all over Lena’s body. As though the room had been able to read her thoughts and was making it known how unhappy it’d be if she spent more time than necessary within the confines of its walls.

Lena frowned and had to stop herself from trying to see where exactly the negative energy was coming from. But as soon as her gaze wandered away from the animatronic fox, she felt the first pangs of intense fear begin rising up within her. But when she turned her attention back towards her goal, the fear began to dissipate. As though the energy was content to let her do the work required, but anything other than that was strictly forbidden.

Ordinarily, trying to push her around like this would have resulted in Lena letting them know exactly where they could stuff their demands. But a seemingly sentient room wasn’t something that Lena could start an argument with. Even if she tried, it probably wouldn't do much aside from making her seem like a crazy woman.

Without any other options, she moved around the animatronic as quickly as possible and got to work. Keeping her head hung low so as to avoid further angering whatever force inhabited the room more than she already had. Fortunately, Foxy’s incomplete state meant that the workload was even lighter than it had been for the ones on stage. In no time at all, she’d had the back of the fox’s head exposed and ready for the programmers. Even though Lena had the feeling that poor Foxy would wind up forgotten and left unprogrammed.

In a small act of defiance, she made a mental note to come back to the room and check over Foxy before she left work tomorrow night. Regardless of what the room thought about it. But as this thought passed through her head, she was surprised to feel the air in the room suddenly become still. Devoid of the emotion that it had been displayed previously. As though it was holding its breath in anticipation.

Lena snapped her eyes to and fro to try seeing if someone else had joined her but found nobody. At least, nobody that she could see anyway. Even though the overbearing energy had vanished, the room felt more uncomfortable than ever before. Now, it almost felt like she was in an unsafe area of the town on a moonless night. With nobody around to hear if she screamed for help.

Lena’s fingers curled tightly around the handle of her toolbox as she started making her way back over towards the entrance. But as she moved closer towards the hallway, she was startled by a couple of soft thuds echoing out to her right. The suddenness of it shocking her so badly that she jumped back in fright.

While she’d normally have blamed the noise on someone walking around with very large boots, there’d been something about them that seemed off. Despite sounding like footsteps, Lena could have sworn that she’d also faintly heard the accompanying sound of clanking metal.

Just as she began to cautiously move towards the hallway, the distant thuds started up again. Now making their way towards the party room in a slow rhythmic pattern that made Lena’s blood run cold. Each step seemed to add more sounds to her ears. In addition to the clanking metal, she could now hear what sounded like old pistons moving in tandem with the thuds. Having spent so much time working around various machines, Lena knew all too well that whatever was approaching her was not human.

Her panicked mind quickly came up with a few solutions to get out of the current situation. With all of them came to the same conclusion that she needed to try outrunning whatever was out in the hallway. But even with her mind urging her to run, her legs remained locked in place. Too frightened to move, almost as though they already knew that trying to escape this thing would be a futile effort.

By the time she was able to get her legs moving, the noises had made their way over to the party room's entrance. Each step sounded like the angry beating of a war drum as the hallway lights began to silhouette the approaching figure. Lena stared at the shadow and took note of all its features. Its bulk, its height, and what appeared to be rabbit-like ears protruding from the top of its head.

“I-Is that a… rabbit?” Was all that she could bring herself to say before her heart stopped. For just as the figure began to come into view, the top of the puppet’s box exploded open. She whirled around and felt a rush of energy fill the room as the Puppet rose into the air. Its strings twisted about and pulling its limbs in several different directions while its introduction music blared with the intensity of a siren until it crescendoed into a frantic wail.

The toolbox fell from Lena’s hands and smashed open on the ground as she tried to cover her ears to block out the sound. Unable to hear her own thoughts over the Puppet’s wailing. If that hadn’t been enough to finally drive Lena out of the room, the commanding energy finished off whatever willingness to stay that she had left.

Turning away from the Puppet’s contorting body, Lena raced out of the party room and down the hallway. Her eyes stinging with fearful tears as she focused on getting away from that horrible room. But even over the sounds of the puppet’s screams, she could faintly hear the thudding footsteps following her example. Running away from the party room in fear of whatever lurked inside of the Puppet.

In spite of her own fears, Lena took a quick over her shoulder to get a glimpse at what had been approaching the party room. Only just making out a flash of yellow fabric and glowing white eyes before they vanished from each other’s sight.

It was only when she’d made it to the dining room that Lena realized she’d dropped her toolbox and left it behind. But for once, she didn’t give a damn about it. If the morning crew actually made their way back there then they’d be able to grab it for her, because Lean was never setting foot in the party room ever again.

* * *

“ _Carlton!”_

_Carlton winced and tucked himself further beneath the table. Taking note of the mixture of harshness and concern in his father’s voice. Whatever was stressing him out at work had begun seeping into his home life. and made him act way more protective than usual._

_But Carlton didn’t care about that, this might be his last trip to Freddy’s after all and he wanted to make every minute of it last. At least, that was the impression he’d gotten from his mother when she dropped him off earlier in the day._ _She'd seemed rather nervous about letting him go to the restaurant, but today had been Charlie’s birthday and there was no way he’d miss her party. But the idea of this being his last visit to the pizzeria had made him more determined than ever to spend the night within its walls. Just to see what went on after dark._

_“Carlton, I'm not in the mood to play games right now!” Clay’s snapped again. More angered then he’d been previously. Already reaching the tone of voice he used whenever he was ready to give Carlton a very long time out._

_But despite fearing his father’s anger, Carlton stayed put beneath his table. He was determined to stay in the restaurant no matter what his dad did. However, he soon realized his mistake in his choice of hiding space as his father’s footsteps soon drew near to the table._ _Carlton scooted away from the edge as his father came into earshot, grumbling worriedly beneath his breath before he began pulling at the tablecloth. Upon realizing that his hiding spot had been blown, Carlton raced out from underneath the table in a mad dash to get away from his father._

_“Carlton! Get back here right now” Clay bellowed.  
_

_Like his previous orders, this too went ignored by Carlton. Who was now racing towards the arcade in the hopes that he’d be able to lose his father amongst the rows of arcade cabinets. His little legs pumping so hard that he felt they might burst._

_Yet despite all odds, Carlton found himself managing to outpace his father and get into the arcade before him. Racing behind a row of machines and then planting himself firmly behind the largest one he could find. Hoping that his father hadn’t seen where he’d ran off too and would be delayed long enough for him to at least enjoy a couple of hours alone._

_Because of this line of thinking, he wasn’t very suspicious when his father’s footsteps faded away like the way an early morning mist gets chased off by the sun. If anything, he was ecstatic at the possibility that he’d finally gotten his wish to spend the night at Freddy’s._

_After waiting a couple of extra minutes to make sure that the coast was clear, Carlton moved out from behind his makeshift hiding space. Keeping his movements slow so that his dad wouldn't hear him creeping about. He’d learned rather quickly how sneaky his father could be and was not eager to let himself get caught._ _Not when he was so close to finally reaching his goal of spending a whole night in the most wonderful place in Hurricane._

_But as he approached the middle of the arcade room, a familiar voice hit his ears. A faint whisper that drew his attention over towards a pair of double doors that he’d never seen before.  
_

_“Michael?” He asked, looking around to see if indeed his friend had finally decided to join in on his efforts. But the only reply that he received was the sound of a scream coming from behind the doors._ _The young boy jumped back in terror as the scream reverberated throughout the arcade area. It was then Carlton decided that he’d made a rather poor choice in trying to stay overnight at Freddy’s. But that was overridden by a sudden sense of familiarity._

 _He’d heard the scream before, even though it sounded a lot older than it should be. But deep down he knew who had made the scream, Charlie’s voice was unmistakable to him no matter how different it sounded._ _He raced over to the double doors, not noticing that he’d returned to his current age until he’d started pulling at the door handles._

 _But those thoughts were tabled when he heard the sound of_ _Charlie gasping for air on the other side of the door, accompanied by the distant clanging of metal footsteps on tiled floors._ _Without pausing to take a breath, Carlton yanked open the heavy doors and found himself nearly being run over by his friend. Her face flushed red as terrified tears streamed from her eyes._

_“Charlie!” Carlton called out, only to stop when he realized that something was wrong with her appearance. He could faintly make out string-like lines attached to various points on her body, tugging at her limbs in an effort to draw her back into the room she’d just escaped from._

_Thankfully, Charlie was able to resist the pull and kept running until she’d left Carlton far behind her. But as he watched her go, he found his attention being drawn to the thing that’d been chasing her._

_The distant metallic thuds became nearly deafening as Carlton spun around and laid eyes on something straight out of a nightmare. Dave’s suit, running towards him at full speed with its awful white eyes piercing through his very soul. He_ _tried to move but found himself glued to the spot as the suit bore down on him. Its jaw opening wider than the suit's mechanisms should have allowed as an awful screech bellowed from deep within its rotten core._

_A scream that was joined by Carlton’s own terrified cry as the suit smashed into him and everything instantly turned black…  
_

* * *

It took almost everything Carlton had to avoid screaming when he woke up from his nightmare.

His chest heaving as he struggled to keep his trembling from rattling the bed frame. But after a moment of deep breathing, he managed to bring himself down from the shock and take stock of his surroundings. He was in bed at his aunt's house, not back in the old Freddy’s, and certainly not being chased by Dave's suit. 

But even with this reassurance, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that the dream had been trying to tell him something. The first part had been a memory, but the rest of it had felt as though he’d been watching a replay of someone else’s life. A warning of either what was to come, or what had already happened. 

Part of him hoped that it’d just been that, a dream. Nothing more than a scattered nightmare caused by his overworked and tired mind.

But the presence of the yellow bear sitting in the corner told him all that he needed to know. Unlike the last time that it’d appeared to him though, Carlton did not blow off the spirit of his long-departed friend. Instead, he quietly leaned forward so he could listen to what it had to say to him, each word filling him with equal amounts of dread and resolve.

Something was horribly wrong in Brookhaven, something that had managed to sink its claws into Charlie’s mind and prevent Michael from helping her through whatever was going on. 

Once the bear had finished telling him of what had transpired over in New York, Carlton leaned back in bed with a disdainful sigh. While he didn’t want to get involved with this again, the information that he’d just learned couldn’t be ignored.

All that really mattered to him now was that his friends were in trouble. Regardless of how he felt about it, helping them out of this situation was the least he could to return the favor for their efforts to save him from Dave's clutches over a year ago. But first, he needed a couple of train tickets...


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So this took a bit longer than anticipated but we're edging towards the climax. The next chapter shall begin the traditional FNAF content that you've all been waiting for! 
> 
> I hope that you all enjoy and sound off in the comments what you thought of this chapter! I hope it's not rushed. Thanks for reading everyone and stay tuned for more!

Carlton shifted in his seat and listened closely to the bored, yet authoritative-sounding voice coming over the loudspeaker above his head. While he crackling static made it a little hard to make out what they were saying, he got enough of it to know that they were approaching Grand Central Station. He glanced down towards the map spread out across his legs and then traced his fingers along the route that he’d spent a couple of hours figuring out.

It had taken a lot of persuasions to convince his aunt and mother to let him go all the way to New York to visit his friends; not to mention that nightmare that had been agreeing to let him make the trip all by himself. But he’d made the case that he needed to get away from everything going on with his parents for at least a little bit for the sake of his health. Using that argument had been what allowed him to win through his family’s concern; so long as he kept his promise to call them once per day. After almost a week jumping from station to station, he was almost finished with his journey.

Even though he hadn’t been totally dishonest, Carlton still felt rather bad about lying to his family. He’d led them to believe that the trip was for him to reconnect with his friends and take a break from his troubles. Thankfully no one had figured out his true intentions the night of his mother’s birthday, otherwise, they wouldn’t have let him go anywhere outside the county line.

His trip’s true purpose was more akin to a rescue operation. At least, that’s what he’d been calling it in his head while planning it all out. For the first time in his life, his father’s nickname had been accurate because Carlton felt like an actual soldier that was being sent into hostile enemy territory on a mission to save his friends from everything that was trying to destroy them.

As the train began slowing down, he felt the large backpack between his legs tilt forward. Carlton rushed to grab it before it could hit the floor and managing to get his grip on it just as it was a few centimeters away from striking the ground. He winced as he heard the sound of muffled clanking emanate from within his bag before then looking around at the other passengers sitting near him.

To his relief, all of them seemed either too preoccupied with their own matters or just didn’t really care all that much about their surroundings. After letting out a quiet sigh, Carlton quietly moved the bag up to his chest and hugged it tightly.

 _‘Just another hour or two...maybe a bit more than that but, we’re nearly there.’_ He chuckled internally while taking another look over the map. He’d have to switch trains at the next station and ride it until he was close enough that he could hitch a ride into town or see if there was a bus that could take him straight to Brookhaven from the station itself.

While the bus option was ideal, he’d also prepared for the possibility of having to go with the former option. He’d tried getting a hold of Charlie or John to try and pick him up but found that the time difference made things rather difficult contact wise due to him not knowing either of their schedules.

After the tenth attempt at getting into contact with them, Carlton had given up and just decided to cross that bridge when he got to it. But even though he’d long ago mastered the art of “winging it,” when it came to somewhat perilous situations, being alone on the other side of the country was something, not even he could have prepared for.

 _‘At least you’ve managed to finally fulfill your goal of seeing more of the world.’_ Carlton thought, somewhat ruefully, as he folded up his map. The train lurched once again as it came to a final stop in the station.

Before Carlton even had the chance to get to his feet, the other passengers around him seemed to suddenly break out of an immobilizing trance that hadn’t affected Carlton while the train was moving. Everyone began moving towards the train doors, pushing their way past Carlton’s seat and almost blocking him off from exiting. It wasn’t all that surprising to see so many people getting off at the same stop as him, seeing as how the station was called Grand Central for nothing but it didn’t make it any less of a hassle for him to deal with.

“Well...that figures,” Carlton grumbled to himself as he tried to squeeze into the ever-growing crowd of people. A task that was much easier said than done, especially with everyone in the car trying to get out of the same exit. Carlton had to hold back a rather surprised yelp as the crowd swept him up and began moving him over towards already packed train doors.

But before he found himself getting too uncomfortable, the doors opened up and allowed the crowd to spill out into the station proper. Carlton walked along with them for a short distance before breaking away from the larger group and then headed off in his own direction.

But his attention was soon drawn towards the station’s interior. He’d never seen anything like it before, at least not outside of some of the old movies that he’d watched when there’d been nothing else on TV. It was almost like stepping into another world for him, one that didn’t exist anywhere back in Hurricane.

“Man, they really don’t call this place “Grand Central Station” for nothing do they?” Was all he was able to say before he nearly collided with a couple of other passengers.

After quickly rambling out an apology to the people, Carlton continued on his way to the bus terminal. Having now decided that it would be better for him to stay focused on the following signs rather than spending his time gawking at the station’s interior.

But even with his focus now firmly set on finding his goal, he soon the station's vastness meant that finding the bus terminal took longer than expected, But once he’d managed to follow the signs where he needed to go, he found himself speaking to one of the many station employees.

“So you said that you need to get to Brookhaven?” They asked carefully, making sure that they got all of his information right.

“Uh-huh, I know that there’s not a station for it anymore but do you know if there are any buses that I could take out there?” Carlton said, and then looked down at his hands as a mixture of excitement and nervousness building up within him as he watched the employee type something into their computer.

“We do have a bus heading out that way in about half an hour, if you’re able to handle a few extra hours on a bus then I can get you a ticket for it right now.”

“Considering how much time I’ve spent on trains these past few days, a bus might be a good change of pace.” Carlton chuckled weakly as he passed them some cash, groaning internally at his failed attempt at humor that only earned him a polite smile from the employee as they got back to work on getting him a ticket.

“Okay Sir, here’s your ticket to Brookhaven. Just make sure to keep an eye on the time and make sure that you have the right bus line. ” The employee helpfully said while handing him both the ticket and his change. “We hope you’ll have a wonderful trip as well as a good night.”

“Thanks, I hope you do too,” Carlton replied. Despite knowing that the “good night” remark employees gave someone was usually just a generic phrase, it felt rather nice to have some positive interaction after the long hours he’d spent on the train with the other passengers.

He walked away from the counter and over towards the bus terminal’s waiting area. But as he entered the room, he was blindsided by the freezing fall air that was coming off of the sea. While he was used to the cold back in Utah, it was nothing compared to being out by the sea in the waning months of the year.

He shivered and stopped walking just long enough to zip up his jacket before settling into a seat near the exit, even though his jacket provided only a little respite from the cold air. Carlton shivered and pulled the collar up; silently praying that it would be enough to at least to tide him over till his bus arrived.

In an effort to distract himself from the biting cold, he began looking around at the various advertisements scattered around the waiting area. Taking note of how each one tried it’s best to stand out against both the other advertisements as well as the grandeur of the station itself. Carlton knew that it wasn’t much to do, but it would at least keep him entertained for a little bit.

That was until he spotted a newer ad in the farthest corner of the room, the sight of it making his blood colder than the air outside. He tried to blink and then rub at his eyes to make sure that he wasn’t seeing things but soon realized that his eyes were not playing tricks. Even with all the changes that had been to his design, there was no mistaking the smiling, cheerful form of Freddy Fazbear waving at everyone who looked at the poster.

Carlton felt his stomach churn about and twist into a tight knot as he stared down the poster. Just looking at it made him feel like his entire body had turned into lead, but he couldn't stop staring at it. Almost as if the poster had managed to capture him in some kind of spell.

He continued staring at it even while getting to his feet and moving closer to it. Locking eyes with the friendly-looking bear whose smile hid a bloody legacy that had nearly claimed him just the year before. With each step, he felt his initial moment of fear turn into something dangerous as a wave of burning anger rose up within him. So much so that by the time he’d gotten over to the poster, he was ready to tear it right off of the wall.

His fingers dug deep into his palms as he gazed directly at this insult to the memory of everyone who had been hurt by the original Freddy’s. Not just Michel’s memory, but also the memories he had of all his remaining friends almost being killed. But before he could act upon the urge to tear down the poster, a familiar voice from his left caught his attention.

“I still can’t believe that they actually went through with that.” The voice was little more than a whisper, but Carlton was close enough that he’d been able to hear it clear as day.

He turned his head to look at the person who'd said the comment, half expecting to see someone in the midst of a conversation that he’d accidentally tuned into. But what he actually saw delivered the second biggest shock of the night to him.

“Jessica?” He gasped. Even though she was bundled up in what seemed to be the warmest coat and hat he’d ever seen in his life, it was impossible to mistake the confident looking girl beneath for anyone but his old childhood friend. He watched as Jessica flicked her apprehensive gaze from the poster over to Carlton and then let out a gasp of her own.

“C-Carlton? What are you doing all the way out here?” She asked as her face lit up with surprise.

“Oh, I’m just finally going out to see the world outside of Hurricane and figured what better place to start than the big apple?” He flashed her quick grin and chuckled, having used this explanation to convince his family. While he trusted Jessica, he wasn’t too sure how she’d react to what he was doing.

“How about you? I mean, I know you live here out but I figured that you’d be home by this time of night.”

As with the bus terminal employee before, Jessica didn’t give him the reaction he was hoping for. Her mouth turned into a lopsided frown as she glanced back over at the poster before looking out the nearby window.

“Well considering that you didn’t call me about coming for a visit and how we seem to be boarding the same bus, I’d wager a guess that we’re both here for the same reason.”

“Umm...that...depends why you think I’m going to Brookhaven.” Carlton looked aside and lightly dug his toe into the floor. Even though he was happy to see Jessica, he had been caught off guard by how quickly she’d figured him out.

Jessica looked to the side again, her mind trying to form the right words as she glanced back towards the poster again. Her face turning from a frown into a sneer upon seeing Freddy’s elated face once again.

“Well, I supposed you’ve already found out about the Freddy’s that some ex-partner of Charlie’s dad built over there-“

“Wait, it’s in Brookhaven!?” Carlton’s jaw dropped as he looked over the poster again. His eyes widened as he noticed and read the address printed out at the bottom, giving him another possible answer as to why Charlie and John hadn’t been picking up their phone.

“Yeah, I went over about a couple months ago to try taking their minds off it but…”

“Let me guess, they’re not responding anymore,” Carlton said as his mind flashed back to the dream that had started him on his journey. At the time he hadn’t been sure if it was a vision or some kind of replay of Charlie’s own memories and the revelation of this new Freddy’s began making the answer all too clear for him. But before he could give it any more thought, Jessica spoke up again and snapped him back to the conversation.

“Kinda...ever since the place opened Charlie’s been becoming...distant again.” Jessica rubbed her arm as concern flooded over her face. “I know that it sounds a bit nosy but, I’m worried that this place is causing her to slide backward...y'know what I mean right?”

“Yeah, I getcha…” Carlton nodded affirmingly. Even though he was by no means a psychologist, he’d become very familiar with the dark place that the experience at the old Freddy’s had left him in. So if Charlie was entering a similar place, then that meant she was liable to do something like what he’d tried to do. But unlike him, there was a much higher risk of something going wrong. That is if he wasn’t too late to help already.

“I’m here because of that too…well...it’s a lot more complicated than that actually.” Carlton murmured as all hints of his usual tone quickly left his voice. “But it’s...going to take a bit of explaining.”

Jessica let out a small, “hmm,” in response as she looked at her watch and then pulled her own bus ticket from her pocket.

“Well, it looks like we’ve got another twenty minutes before our bus comes and then a couple of hours ride after that so that should give you plenty of time for you to tell me everything” She gave him a confident grin, trying her best to mask her insecurities about the situation.

“Alright, but I just have one thing to ask you.” Carlton briefly smiled before it fell back into a frown. “Promise me that you won’t think that I’m crazy.”  
\-------------------------  
_‘If we could just corner it inside that room next to Rick’s office and maybe use some of the tables covers to restrain it then we might be able to weaken it enough to destroy it but...’_ Charlie stopped scribbling in her notebook and grabbed her head with an angry sigh before she angrily ripped out the page and tore it apart. Violently scattering the pieces about until there was almost nothing left of her most recent failure.

After letting out another frustrated sigh, that briefly turned into a pathetic wheeze, she slumped back in her seat and moved her hands up to her temples. Her fingers pressing deep into her forehead as she tried using breathing exercises to calm herself down. But the unknown voice in her mind refused to grant her more than a moment's peace and pushed forward yet another plan to rid the world of Dave’s suit.

The price of doing all this planning was beginning to have a rather high mental cost as over the course of the past week, she’d started distancing herself from almost everyone around her. At both work and home she’d do what was needed with her head hung low, only responding whenever someone directly asked her a question. While she’d done her best to continue being engaged with those around her, her mind was constantly pushing the need to make a plan over everything else. Forcing her to constantly fixate on her end goal of destroying Dave’s suit and finally ridding the world of his evil.

But coming up with the “perfect” plan had gone beyond a simple desire to shed herself of Freddy’s bloody legacy, it was now an obsession. As she kept on planning no matter how many of them fell; spurned on by the little voice giving her idea after idea.

“Alright... Let’s try this one more time” Charlie muttered as she brushed aside the scraps of paper and began jotting down another idea on the next page.

Coming up with all of these plans had once again caused Charlie to begin reflecting on the events of last year. Making her wish that all of her friends from that incident were here now to help her out, but all of them were now out and living their own lives so it just came down to her and John.

While she knew that he’d vowed to always be by her side, the reassurance that promise provided had recently begun to dwindle with each passing day. Patching up the tension between them hadn’t gone as well as she’d hoped due in part to her dedicating all of her spare time to coming up with her plans.

Even though they’d been practicing walking on eggshells around each other it hadn’t diminished how much both of them cared for the other. But there seemed to be something like a dark cloud trying to push its way between them; doing everything in its power to separate them in every way possible except for physically. While there hadn’t been anything close to a fight between them, Charlie feared that if she didn’t think up a solution soon then it’d only be a matter of time before they actually had one. The prospect causing her stomach to sink even lower than it already was.

Eventually, she began wondering if her father had felt the same way during the original murders. It must have been hard to constantly put on a brave face to make the world believe that everything was fine while he collapsed from the inside out; suffocated by his mental torment until he’d reached a breaking point that he couldn’t return from.

She didn’t want to be broken the same way that her father had, but it almost felt like she didn’t have a choice but to follow his footsteps. Especially since her newest plan was yet again not turning out the way she wanted it to go.

Charlie stopped herself mid-way through writing out something and stared down at the paper. She could already feel the frustration building up within her as she gripped the paper, intending to destroy it as she had all of her previous failures. But before she could begin tearing it to pieces, she felt John’s hand lightly squeeze her shoulder.

“Hi,” Charlie said as she looked up at him with a tense smile.

“Hey, I just wanted to check in and see how all the planning was going.” John looked at her with an equally tense, yet reassuring smile before turning his gaze towards the floor. Charlie watching on as he looked down at all of the scraps and then partially open his mouth to say something but quickly deciding against it and instead of going for,

“I‘m guessing it’s not going well.” He said after a moment of silence.

“That’s putting it lightly, actually saying that it's going terribly would probably work better,” Charlie grunted angrily and then shoved her notebook and pen across the table. “Nothing that I’m coming up with is working.”

She tensed up a little as John slowly ran his fingers down her back in an intimate gesture that managed to slightly calm her down.

“I just…” Charlie once more reached up to sink her fingers into her hair, almost ready to pull it out from frustration. “I don’t know what to do anymore…”

John reached over and squeezed one of her hands, the gentle touch bringing a little smile to Charlie’s face as she squeezed his hand back. But the smile quickly faded away as the little voice began speaking up again; commanding Charlie to get back to working on a plan.

“Do you remember what you told me when I was working on my haikus?” John asked softly while using his free hand to massage her shoulder.

Charlie looked at him with an almost irate gaze that’d brought out by the internal voice’s now constant demands. She defiantly nodded her head and let out a chuckle.

“About how you needed a break so you didn’t force it your work and end up unhappy with it? Yeah, I remember. Were you going to say that I need to follow my own advice?”

“Well...something like that, yeah.” John knelt down so he was able to evenly meet Charlie’s eyes and squeezed her hand again. “Given how you demolished that page, I think a little break is more than overdue.”

Charlie smiled and was about to give John a reply in the affirmative when she suddenly felt a quick flash of anger flare up within her mind. The now not-so-little voice loudly ordering her to turn down John’s suggestion and get back to work on the plan with a tone of voice that indicated it was more than a little tired with her getting sidetracked.

But she knew that John was right about her needing a break, even if it was just a small one that was only long enough to rest her mind so she could have a fresh approach to the situation. But the voice wasn’t having any of it, barking at her to finish the plan.

Charlie internally huffed and looked back down at the paper. Her already frayed patience with the voice began to wear very thin as she responded to its anger in kind.

 _‘I’ll finish this plan, but then I’m taking a break.’_ She mentally told it what she hoped was an authoritative-sounding thought. She felt the voice’s anger flare up once again before it suddenly subsided like an angry child stomping away from an argument. While it hadn’t fully gone away, it had apparently decided that this wasn’t a battle it wanted to fight right now.

It was a temporary victory at best though; she knew that it’d be back sooner or later. But for now, she’d wrap up this plan and then enjoy the momentary peace that she’d achieved.

It was then she remembered that John was still next to her and was waiting for her to give him an answer. She reached out to once again take hold of her pen and then looked back at him.

“I’m going to finish up this and then I’ll take you up on that offer. If you don’t mind waiting a bit.” The nervous smile that had been making its way across her face fell once saw the disappointed look that John quickly hid by returning his face to a neutral position.

“Alright...just come to get me when you're done with...that.” He gestured towards the notebook in her hands and then stood up to make his way over to the living room.

Once more, she felt the flash of anger rise up within her mind, this time directed towards John more than her, and this time she found herself agreeing with it at least a little. Whether or not those thoughts were really her were irrelevant as she could worry about it once she was done with the plan.

She clicked her pen open and began once again trying to recall as much as she could about the new Freddy’s general layout. While she hadn’t seen all of the Pizzeria, she hoped that she’d experienced enough to at least give them some sort of edge against the suit

There were only so many places that it could hide during the day and thus it’d have to stay hidden until the coast was totally clear. Figuring out those potential hiding spots was a crucial part to all of her plans, with Charlie holding out hope that it’d be easy enough to trap him while he was hidden and thus not have to deal with a lot of resistance.

But as she finished up this plan, she realized too late that it was going to be just like the ones that had come before as it was too complicated to work with just the two of them. The lack of extra people to help them out was once again the biggest stumbling block whenever it came to bringing these plans to life.

It was then that the little voice suggested asking some of the people that she’d met since moving to Brookhaven for help, but Charlie had shot that idea down before it even had the chance fully form. She didn’t want to put anyone else in danger of ending up like Arty. Not that any of them would ever believe her story in the first place.

Charlie sighed in defeat and set down her pen to start shredding this paper as she had the last one but then stopped herself at the last second. While the plan wasn’t going to work without more people, it was still a pretty good plan that could be refined to fit their lack of people power.

She made a quick mental note to try building off it for her next attempt at a plan, she stood up and closed her notebook. The little voice already making itself known, but Charlie quickly managed to get it to hut up by reminding it of their earlier deal. Just like before, the voice flared up some anger but then quickly faded away like a child rushing back to their room to hide from an angry parent.

After taking yet another calming breath, she stooped down to start picking up the scattered remnants of the shredded pages while also recalling thinking back to when she’d chastised John for doing the same.

Bringing up this memory caused her to begin reflecting on everything that had happened since that first week working at the store and how the following two months of her life had come to feel like several years. As she was picking up the last scraps of paper, the quote from Aunt Jen’s friend about change came back into her mind.

 _“A good change can be one of the slowest things you’ll ever experience, but a bad change can come about in an instant.”_ The memory of it made Charlie scowl and bitterly mutter something about needing to actually listen to that kind of advice instead of just brushing it off.

While she was throwing away the scraps of paper, she glanced over at the living room tossed that that John was now seated on the couch with one of his books. Although she couldn't initially tell if it was for his classes or for fun, the fact that he seemed to focus hard on reading meant that it was probably the latter.

She could always tell if John was enjoying what he was reading by how often he looked up from his books and from what she'd seen he hadn’t torn his gaze away from this one since he’d picked it up.

As she quietly went over to the couch, she began thinking of something that could break the tension between them. But because she’d spent so much of her mental energy coming up with plans that she’d effectively drained her mind dry of anything else. After nearly half a minute of thinking, she managed to get out a somewhat strained “Hi,” before being suddenly cut off by the sound of someone knocking at the front door.

The two of them jumped and snapped their heads towards the door before slowly then directing their gazes back at each other. As though they were trying to silently ask if they’d been expecting someone to drop by and had forgotten about it.

After they both received confirming head shakes that indicated that they hadn’t been expecting anybody, Charlie looked at the door with a concerned expression. The worrying thought that it might be the police began to take root in her head, which wasn’t helped by the familiar little voice taking the opportunity to speak up once again. Trying it’s best to stoke up her fear that whoever was on the other side of the door did not have her best intentions at heart.

After about a minute of breathless waiting, the knocking came again. This time it was a bit harsher than before with the addition of a voice calling out through the edges of the doorway.

“Charlie? John? Are you guys in there?”

“Is that…Jessica?” John whispered as he shot up to his feet while both of their jaws dropped to the floor when another voice joined in.

“Maybe they’re not home?”

“Unless they decided to go somewhere this late without their car and left all their lights on, then I’m gonna assume that they’re home.”

“C-Carlton?” Hearing the second voice was what finally allowed Charlie to find her voice as her hand covered her mouth in shock. Both she and John exchanged stunned looks that were then returned to the door as Carlton called out to them.

“Huh, guess you were right. Yeah! It’s us, can we come in it’s...a lot colder out here than I expected.”

“What did I tell you?”

“Give me a break Jess, it’s my first time outside of Utah.”

Before Carlton had finished his sentence, Charlie had already sprinted over to the door and was in the process of throwing it open as just as Jessica began her familiar remarks about inappropriate winter dress.

Now it was her and Carlton’s turn to be stunned as they snapped to attention and looked at Charlie. Jessica remaining quiet as her eyes slowly scanned over her friend's appearance while Carlton greeted Charlie with a friendly smile.

“Hey Charlie, uh…is your new job going well?” Despite Carlton’s jovial attitude, a few hints of concern made their way into his voice as he too took in Charlie’s unkempt appearance.

“It’s been…” Charlie trailed off from giving her usual stock answer and gave Carlton a confused look. “…Wait how do you know about that?”

“I filled him in on some details while we were riding the bus over here.” Jessica said while guiltily raising her hand with a nervous grin. “He’s actually here for kind of the same reason as me.”

Charlie felt her chest tightening at Jessica’s statement. She’d already had a good explanation in mind for Jessica’s sudden appearance, but Carlton’s presence had thrown all of her theories out the window. She glanced off to the side and let out a chuckle, hoping that neither of them would pick up on her nervousness.

The little voice in her head hissed out some unhelpful advice on how to get rid of the two, advice that Charlie did her best to tune out while trying to come up with an explanation for her behavior that didn’t reveal her current plans.

But before she could think of anything to say, a cold blast of wind swept across the complex and sent a chill through everyone standing at the doorway. After they'd all stopped shivering, Carlton spoke up again.  
“I don’t mean to sound rude or like a broken record but is it alright if we come in? Between you and me I’m not really in the mood to freeze to death out here.” Carlton asked jokingly while also trying to keep his shivering down to a minimum.

“Oh-oh right! Yeah, come in.” Charlie mumbled as she stepped aside and gestured towards the apartment's interior. Carlton slid past Jessica and looked about the room as he walked over towards the still stunned John.

“Woah, nice to finally see this place in person.” He raised his hand up to John and grinned. “Hey, there’s my second favorite college bound buddy.”

“Second favorite?” John asked somewhat incredulously. The remark having finally snapped him out of his stupor and return Carlton’s high five as he let out a friendly laugh.

“Well, it’s kind of hard to beat Lamar’s track record, I’ve heard from a little bird named Marla that he’s already made the honor roll and is looking at graduating early.” Carlton shrugged his bag off of his shoulder and slid it down to his hand.

“Do you guys have a place where I can put this? If not, I’m more than happy keeping it on my person.”

Charlie tuned Carlton out and focused herself on shutting the door once Jessica had walked in after him. With everything going on in her life, she recognized when someone was doing their best to hide something from those around them.

To her, it was plain as day that Carlton was trying too hard to cover up his nervousness with his jokes. As she was about to walk over to him, Jessica reached out to give her shoulder a firm squeeze. Charlie turned to face her and saw that Jessica’s expression had become hardened with concern.

“Charlie, are you okay? Don’t take this the wrong way but, you look like hell compared to when I last saw you.”

“Y-yeah…but…well…” Charlie looked down at the floor while running a hand up the side of her hair. “There’s just been a lot of stress from work and...other stuff. Looking like crap tends to happen when you don’t get enough sleep.” Charlie rubbed at her arm and let out a deep sigh.

“I know that I’ve been distant and a bit short with our phone calls but life’s just gotten really busy for us.” She frowned as Jessica shook her head in response.

“No...Charlie, I know that you want to hide it but I can tell when something’s bothering you. I’d just assumed that all the advertisements for the new Freddy’s were getting to your head but then...well… I met up Carlton at the train station a few hours ago and he had...quite the interesting story to tell me that I feel you’d be rather interested in hearing.”

“Oh really? W-what kind of story?” Charlie asked quietly, her body tensing up and she heard the voice angrily shout at her to ignore everything that Jessica was saying.

It was getting harder to ignore the voice now as it began trying to put words in her mouth that she’d normally never even dream of saying to her. Just keeping it silent was proving to be a more difficult task then it was worth, but Charlie held her tongue.

“Well according to him, Michael showed him a few things that we’re hoping you can elaborate on.”Charlie gasped a little but then quickly collected herself, letting out a deep sigh as she carefully considered what she wanted to say next. But after thinking it over, she knew that the best thing to do was to be upfront about what was actually going on. 

“Okay…But I want him to tell his die first and then I’ll mine okay? Just promise me that you won’t judge me too harshly okay?” To Charlie’s surprise, Jessica responded to her request with a burst of laughter.

“He asked me the same thing before we got on the bus and after hearing everything that he’s been getting up too, I don’t think anything will surprise me anymore.”

For the first time since her trip back to the new Freddy's Charlie felt a genuine smile cross her lips. Even though she was shocked by her friend's sudden reappearance, the idea that Michael had sent them her way made her more than a little grateful to have them back on her side. Maybe now, she’d be able to put her plans to good use and end this once and for all.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a chapter that's long overdue! My apologies everyone but life really kicked me in the face these past few weeks. Not to mention that the chapter is...somewhat incomplete. It was actually going to be much longer and run right into the story's climax, but when I went to edit this part and saw that it was almost 8,000 words, I opted to cut it short so I wasn't staying up all night editing it. 
> 
> The next Chapter shall begin the typical FNAF madness that we all know and love! Hopefully, I can get it out on time and we can finish this story before 2021. I hope you all enjoy it and let me know what you think in the comments! Stay safe out there guys and thanks for all the support

As the newly hired night cleaners go about their work cleaning Freddy Fazbear’s pizzeria after another busy day, none of them seemed to notice Rick Taylor watching their movements from the animatronics stage. While his eyes gave everyone around a harsh look of suspicion, his hands were shaking as he anxiously fiddled with the heavy-duty flashlight that he’d bought just the other day.

The new cleaning crew had been hired after the trust he’d had in the on-site cleaning staff had dwindled into nothing after the theft. As a result, he’d rotated them to only clean the restaurant during the day, while an outside company took over the night shift duties. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to give the new guys the benefit of a doubt either. After all, he still had no clues as to who had actually taken the spring-lock suit and killed Arty.

Once the police had gotten Arty’s body to the morgue, the county coroner had determined that the officer’s one-scene hypothesis had been correct and the cause of Arty’s death was officially ruled as a murder. After he’d found out about the ruling, Rick had done his best to keep this information away from the staff so he could avoid a panic. But somehow, word had managed to get out and subsequently cause everyone on staff to become suspicious of one another.

While the news hadn't affected their overall performance, a closer look at their demeanor showed that they were all walking around like the floor was made out of broken glass instead of tiles. Any strange behavior or breaks in routine were immediately reported to either the managers or Rick himself. It didn’t matter how minor the infraction, everything from someone disappearing during prep time to taking too long in the bathroom was reported without fail.

The almost utter collapse of the employee’s trust reminded Rick of the original' Freddy’s Slow death. Just like now, there’d been a lot of finger-pointing during the months leading up to the restaurant's closure. The employees with children had fled the coop after the third child went missing and those that stayed did so either out of loyalty or in the vain hope that they’d be able to catch the killer themselves.

But what had initially been a collaborative effort quickly collapsed in on itself and just made the situation even worse than it already was. Shortly thereafter, the idea that Henry had been the killer was proposed. Although Rick denied and fought against the allegations, the pressure on his friend had been far too great. The stress and pressure of it soon took its toll on the poor man, resulting in his suicide 

Seeing it happen again nearly drove Rick up the wall, bringing back all of the painful memories that he’d tried to repress for so long. But thankfully, there was still a glimmer of hope for his restaurant. But despite how everything going pear-shaped at the moment, he still considered it a blessing that he’d managed to catch onto something wrong before it got too out of hand. Just to be certain that nobody was going to try and stay behind after closing though, Rick intended to do a final inspection of the building before heading for the nearby motel that he’d been staying in for the past week.

While the local police had reassured him that they’d be watching the restaurant as much as possible, Rick didn’t feel comfortable leaving Freddy’s out of his sight for very long. He was certain that the police had better things to do than just sitting around in the parking watching his restaurant all night.

But on the off chance that they did stick around all night and actually managed to catch someone snooping around inside the restaurant, then they would need help disabling the security protocols. Having a policeman getting injured was the last thing that the restaurant needed on top of everything else.

Plus, just being able to keep his own eyes on the building made him feel like he still had some control over the situation. Although how much control he actually had was up for debate, he’d try to live with the small degree of comfort that being able to keep an eye on the restaurant gave him.

Before long, the night cleaners had finished their work and began slowly filtering out of the restaurant one by one. As soon as they’d all cleared out of the building, Rick walked over and locked the main doors before heading off to the back areas of the restaurant. The flashlight that he’d been turning over in his hands was finally put to good use as he scanned every inch of the restaurant with its powerful beam.

Even though these nightly patrols took him a few hours to complete, he'd built up enough of a routine over the past week that it seemed to make the time fly by. Especially since he never actually found anything on his walks, which always made him just a bit more at ease.

Normally, the prospect of being alone in such a large building would have terrified him. But as the nights had worn on, he’d begun to feel at home within its colorful walls. Though if he’d been a more superstitious person, then he might have made the claim that his nightly rounds had left a part of his essence embedded within the halls. But in reality, it was probably just his growing familiarity with all the restaurant's various little nooks and crannies.

After finishing up his patrol of the play area, he headed back to the showroom and turned down another hallway that was set to the right of the stage with a large overhead sign that read “Arcade” in flashy looking letters greeting him as he went past. It wasn't too long afterward that Rick entered into a large darkened room that contained what had been billed as probably the greatest collection of games on this side of Coney Island.

Even in the darkness, he could clearly make out the rows of various types of arcade games and a few small but fairly impressive rides that were scattered about the room. Normally, the whole place would’ve been lit up with a variety of colorful lights that showed all that the arcade had to offer its customers. But after hours, it was little more than a dark maze that swallowed up the beam from Rick’s flashlight like a mechanical black hole.

Both the arcade and the play area had been some of the most expensive parts of the Pizzeria, mostly because the equipment had been specially customized in order to fit the restaurant's theme. Their scale and size were rightfully massive so they could keep children entertained for hours on end, but this also meant that they were the best places to hide in the restaurant.

Several workers, including Rick himself, had gotten lost inside the maze of games on more than one occasion. These incidents had led them to put up directional signs so as to limit the number of lost children and parents. But even with them in place, it was still easy to get lost amongst the rows of machines, especially if someone was trying to get lost on purpose.

Before stepping into the darkened room, Rick opened up the nearby janitor’s closet and moved the cart into the doorway. If anyone was hiding in here and tried to make a break for it, then they’d be hopefully stopped by the supply cart on their way out.

But like the rest of the restaurant, the arcade proved to be devoid of all life aside from Rick himself. Yet, for some reason, he felt like he wasn’t alone back there. No matter where he shined his flashlight, Rick Constantly felt like there was a pair of eyes on him at all times. But the only signs of life that he could find were a few scattered candy wrappers that had been missed by the cleaning crew.

After walking through all of the rows, he made his way to the very back of the arcade and entered what was probably the restaurant's single largest attraction. A miniature train ride that had been dubbed “The Fazbear Express.” by his marketing team. While it wasn’t much more than just an average train ride with Freddy’s face slapped on the front of the locomotive, it’d been enough of a crowd-pleaser that he initially didn’t have the heart to consider removing it.

However, its recent problems with the track in and around the tunnel had cast its future at the restaurant into signifcant doubt. According to some of the technicians who’d done repairs on the ride, the tunnel track had been repeatedly mangled in such a way that it almost looked like something heavy had walked through the tunnel.

They’d already had to replace the track twice now and were ordering extra parts just in case it got destroyed again. It was yet another mystery to be solved, albeit one that Rick was willing to put off until the current crisis had passed since a closed ride was easier to deal with than murder.

Because of its size, the train tunnel was probably one of the best places to hide in the pizzeria bar and thus one of the first places that Rick would normally check. But the recent issues with the track had made him wary of actually stepping into it again because of the recent damages.

He’d walked through the tunnel on more than one occasion and he was worried that he’d unintentionally caused some of the damages.

Instead of exacerbating the issue with the tracks, Rick decided to stay in between the rails just outside the tunnel entrance and use his flashlight to do a quick visual check of the interior. But just like the rest of the arcade, the only sign that anyone had been near the tunnel throughout the day were a few snack wrappers discarded by some rule-breaking children who’d brought them onto the ride.

It was only once he’d finished checking the area surrounding the tunnel that Rick allowed himself to finally let out the sigh that he’d been holding back throughout his patrol; happy that he didn’t actually run into anyone lurking in the restaurant. While catching them in the act would have been great, Rick would be just as happy if they never set foot inside Freddy’s ever again.

Especially when he took the damage they’d already done into account, not to mention the fact that if he had found them then it’d be just one man going up against who knows how many burglars. Having the cops be the ones to find and catch them was the much preferable option in Rick’s eyes.

But until they were either finally caught or put behind bars, Rick would continue on his nightly patrols around the pizzeria. At least until they had enough money to hire a full-time security guard at least.

But even still, he was more than willing to do it so he could keep Freddy’s safe. The whole place was a tribute to the legacy of his dear friend's dream and he wasn’t going to let it fall without a fight.

As he turned to walk out of the room, his mind went back to the wrappers scattered about the train tunnel. While he could have simply made a note telling the morning crew to pick them up, he decided that he didn't want them to be left in the tunnel overnight. 

He quickly moved back over to the entrance and started picking up all that he could while making a mental note to find a way to better enforce the rules about snacks in the arcade. But despite his anger towards the guests, it wasn’t enough to diminish the relief that he felt at having seen no signs of anyone hiding out in the pizzeria.

After he’d managed to snatch up all the wrappers, his watch suddenly let out a sharp to remind him that it was nearly ten o’clock. With a tired yawn, he turned around and began heading back towards the main showroom. The wrappers crinkling in his hands as he balled up his fists to ensure that none of them would fall back onto the floor.

It wouldn't be long before the security protocols kicked in and he needed to be out of the restaurant by then. Even with his protection, Rick wasn’t exactly keen on finding out if the system had any bugs in it that might make him unrecognizable.

But had he not been in such a hurry, he might have discovered that his suspicions about someone in the arcade with him weren't unfounded. 

As soon as he was out of sight, a towering figure moved out from behind a row of arcade machines and stared in the direction Rick had left in. Even though he’d tried his best to stay quiet while on his patrol, his presence hadn’t gone completely unnoticed.

As he’d made his way through the room, the beam of his flashlight had alerted the yellow rabbit to his presence. The rabbit had initially wanted to confront Rick, but the faint whisper from a long-dead voice managed to talk it down.

Instead of making itself known, the presence had suggested that it stay in the shadows and temporarily flee from its hiding spot in the tunnel once Rick was distracted in another corner of the room. While it hadn’t wanted to retreat, the entity had made a compelling enough argument that the rabbit chose to listen to it this time.

As it walked back over to the entrance of the train its body violently shuddered as a raspy mechanical wheeze pushed out from the suit’s mouth that sounded almost like the whine of an animal that had just lost its prey.

Ever since he’d begun his patrol, Rick had been unknowingly chasing the rabbit out of the various hiding spots that it’d been sheltering in after escaping the storeroom. He was beginning to make the rabbit feel as though it was pushed up against a wall that it could not break.

It was a feeling that the rabbit deposited more than anything else, its anger towards Rick nearly eclipsing the amount of rage that it felt towards the girl that had wounded him. Rick was poking his head where it didn’t belong and the rabbit wanted to put a stop to that.

But before it could act on the urge to chase Rick down as it’d done with that annoying boy, the entity once again made itself in an effort to calm the rabbit’s anger. It told the rabbit that as long as it managed to stay hidden away from people’s sight then there’d be nothing that could do it harm. It didn’t have much effect on the rabbit’s opinion but by the time the rabbit had forced it aside and refocused its attention, it was too late.

A static hiss arose from deep within the rabbit’s chest as it faintly heard the front doors slam shut. Without another sound, it turned back to the railway tunnel. Deciding that it’d be best to follow the entity’s advice until a better opportunity presented itself.

To the rabbit, Rick Taylor was a threat, and threats need to be removed as quickly as possible.  
\------------

It had taken a while for Charlie to finish getting Jessica and Carlton up to date with everything that had happened in her life since they’d last seen her. But she was caught off guard when Carlton had started mentioning his own experiences with Freddy’s.

What had started out as a discussion between just the two girls had quickly turned into an impromptu story session

with Carlton adding in his own anecdotes. Before the two of them eventually just started comparing notes n an effort to fill everyone else in on what was going on without causing any confusion

Since Jessica already knew what Carlton had been up to, she’d made Charlie tell her side of the story first. With the great majority of her comments directed towards some of Charley's more “foolish” decisions over the past few weeks. While the majority of her comments were leaning on the harsher side, Charlie knew that they came from a place of concern and not malice.

Despite most of them making new friends outside of their little group after scattering across the country, last year’s events had caused something of a reawakening of their friendship. In just a short time they’d all come to rely on each other whenever things in their personal lives were at their bleakest. Thus, the possibility of losing anyone in their little collective was Jessica could bear.

But as Charlie continued relaying the recent events in her life, another issue was quickly brought to the surface as the little voice began attempting to manipulate what she was saying to her already concerned friends. Even before she’d started talking, it had begun shouting instructions to her in an effort to take control of the narrative. 

She’d done her best to push aside its demands, having already decided

to leave its presence out of the re-telling, but refused to do anything more than that. Saying everything that she’d been doing out loud was already making her feel like an idiot, the last thing that she needed was to mention that she was hearing voices.

Not that Carlton had been acting any better given that he’d apparently tried to burn the old Freddy’s to the ground with Dave’s suit inside of it on Michael’s orders. While part of Charlie wished that he’d been at least partially successful in that endeavor so that she didn't have to deal with Dave’s suit, the idea of destroying her father’s work left her feeling uneasy.  
But it was his mention of Michael’s spirit communicating with him that gave Charlie pause and made her rather curious about who exactly the little voice was. She already knew that it wasn’t normally part of her mind, but she hadn’t thought of the possibility that might be a wayward spirit until now.

When she was able to take a small break from talking, she’d attempted to internally ask it a few questions. But the voice was one step ahead of her and quickly fell silent. A further attempt at communication allowed her to feel a glimpse of hesitation before it retreated from her mind, leaving Charlie on her own for the first time in almost two weeks.

Despite the initial relief that she felt from its absence, Charlie attempted to prod it with a couple more questions before deciding to give up. While its sudden unwillingness to speak was a little offensive, Charlie was grateful since it allowed her to direct her full attention to the conversation at hand without worrying about any more interference. Though it wasn’t long before yet another distraction stole her mind's attention away from the discussion.

Even though John was one of the people that had been closest to the situation besides herself he’d opted to remain silent throughout the bulk of the discussion.

Instead, he spent his time preparing a snack tray after correctly assuming that Carlton and Jessica were starving due to their long trip.

But even though he wasn't actively contributing to the conversation, it was obvious to anyone that looked in his direction that he was very deep in thought. Silently taking in every word and mulling over their shared experiences as he worked on getting their food ready.

Slowly, Charlie found herself becoming more invested in figuring out what her boyfriend was thinking about rather than the conversation at hand. Despite knowing John well enough that she could make almost a thousand guesses about what he was thinking, there was something off about his sudden change behavior that left her feeling rather concerned.

It was almost like he was putting together a puzzle that only he could seem with all the pieces slowly coming together with each passing moment. A puzzle that he seemed rather reluctant to share with everyone else. But Carlton bringing up his father's actions during his sojourn back to old Freddy's was what finally prompted John to join in the conversation.

Charlie watched his brow furrow while his face tightened up in a way that almost reminded her of the way his father would glare at them whenever they did something wrong.  
A stranger wouldn’t

be exactly sure if it was an unconscious reaction or an intentional resemblance. But she knew John enough to make a safe bet that it was unintentional given the strained relationship he had with his father.

“Wait, I thought that your dad said he was going to help put the kids to rest.” Everyone looked at John as he tried remembering Clay’s exact words. “Didn’t he say something about giving them a “proper burial” like Dunn?”

He finished the sentence by looking at Charlie for confirmation and she quickly thought back to the aftermath of Freddy’s incident. A deep frown slowly formed on her features as she began recalling Clay’s apparently broken promise. But before she was able to verify John’s claim, Carlton spoke up first.

"If I’ve learned anything in the eighteen years that I spent underneath his roof, it’s that my dad's words should always be taken with a huge grain of salt. I tried asking him about why he didn't do it but he refused to tell me anything." A harsh sneer crossed Carlton's face as he leaned back into his seat.

"I had to ask my mom to get details on why the restaurant wasn’t just torn down and apparently the city actually never told that Rick guy that the old Freddy's was still standing. He only found out when someone sent him a petition to let the city raze the land."

Charlie and Jessica's eyes became wide with shock while John's jaw fell to the floor. "So… that mall they put around Freddy's was illegal?" John asked, his jaw falling to the floor while Charlie and Jessica's eyes became wide with shock.

"Ehh...From what Mom told me, it wasn't illegal per-see since they just bought the land around Freddy's and left the restaurant itself alone. But my aunt seems to think that the whole thing was pretty sketchy and I’m inclined to agree with her.”

Hearing all of this made Charlie's already deepening frown turn into a small scowl. She began thinking about what "Dave" had told them about the mall back when they'd first encountered him. It hindsight was clear that what he'd said about the town trying to lease out Freddy's was a lie, but she couldn’t be sure if he'd made it up himself or if that had been what the town had told him.

The mall’s builders had done their best to hide it away in the back corner of a store like some ugly clothes that a kid might get for Christmas. Kept inside of their closet so as not to offend their family, but would otherwise be ignored until they found some use for it.

The city had done all of that in an effort to avoid the legal troubles that would result from trying to take the building from Rick.

“Rick was probably pretty unhappy to hear that he’d been lied to.” She mumbled quietly. Her comment was met by a rough laugh from Carlton that only stopped once he’d resumed talking.

“Furious is how Mom described it. According to her, he didn’t even bother calling ahead and just showed up shortly after you all went home with a bunch of lawyers that were ready to sue the town’s pants off.”

Charlie and John exchanged confused looks from across the room since, from what they’d seen, Rick Taylor was more of a nervous man than an angry one. The most upset that he’d ever gotten around them was when they’d eavesdropped on his conversation with the cop on opening night.

“How come none of us heard any of this before now?” John asked while taking a glace over in Charlie’s direction. “I mean...nobody said anything when Charlie was selling her dad’s house.”

“That’s because the city council wanted it kept between just themselves and Rick. The stuff with Dunn was already giving them enough trouble without it coming out that they’d essentially blocked the building off from its rightful owner. Once Rick calmed down enough to be reasoned with, Dad took him out to the restaurant to see what it was like and the rest is history. .” Carlton finished.

“I guess he was satisfied with it since he never brought up the issue again after that visit until he decided to uproot all the older animatronics.

“I wonder if that’s where he got the idea to make a new Freddy’s from.” Jessica pondered aloud.

“Considering how much work seems to have gone into making the new place, I doubt that it was a spur of the moment decision given the scale of everything in that place. '' John said as he walked into the room with his finished snack tray and set it down on the coffee table.

Even though it wasn’t much more than a small collection of some crackers, cheeses, and fruits, it was more than enough for the hungry travelers. As Jessica and Carlton quickly pounced on the tray, John moved over towards Charlie and held his hand out to her.

Instinctively, Charlie moved to grab it but instead of his warm hand, she found herself gripping a small package of crackers that was resting in his palm. She looked back up at him and saw that despite his still inquisitive expression, a degree of warmth had returned to his face.

As Charlie gently took the crackers from his hand, John settled into the seat next to her and carefully placed his arm around her shoulder. Charlie brightly smiled and leaned up against him with a contentful sigh. But before she could thank him for the snack, Carlton spoke up again.

"Wait...what did you mean by “the scale?” He asked, his words muffled by the apple slices that he’d shoved into his mouth. When he looked around and saw the confused looks on his friend’s faces, he hurriedly swallowed and then said it again. “You said something about the “scale” of everything in there. What does that mean exactly?”

“Well to put it simply, this place would’ve put the original Freddy’s out of business if they'd both been open at the same time.” John looked over at Charlie and lightly nudged her with his elbow.

“From what Charlie’s told me about the areas I haven't seen, they had an indoor playground that was almost as big as the gymnasium where they held Michael’s memorial..”

Upon hearing that Carlton let out an impressed sounding whistle before diving back into his snacks. Jessica stared at them and then airily shook her head while fighting back a joking grin.

“Man, they always bring out the good stuff after we’re too old for it.”

“Just the way it is Jess, the next gens always going to have it a bit better than the first,” Carlton commented.

“That’s another thing,” John added, “The new versions of the Animatronics look way more advanced than the ones that Mr. Baker built back in the day. They move a lot more dynamically, but they’re also a lot lighter as well. I may not have picked up as much as my parents wanted me too about how to run a business, but I learned enough to know that you can’t just do this kind of thing on a whim.”

“So, you’re saying that he was always planning to do something like this?” Jessica asked.

“Whenever we talked to him, he always spoke in extreme reverence of my dad so I’d be willing to bet that he’d been planning this for a while.” Charlie looked down and dug her toe into the floor as she thought back to the picture of the old restaurant on Rick’s wall.

“He was pretty upset that Dave’s suit went missing and it wasn’t just because of its monetary value. He’s put a lot of money into making this place better and safer than Dad’s old restaurant. It’s half the reason why I’ve had such a hard time coming up with a decent plan to stop that suit before it hurts someone else. ”

“You’ve been making a plan for that?” All prior interest in the snacks vanished from Carlton’s voice as he locked eyes with Charlie and Jessica followed suit.

Charlie shifted around in her seat, the sudden attention making her feel a bit uncomfortable. But she became emboldened when John reassuringly squeezed her shoulder in a subtle effort to remind her of the trust that they all shared. These weren’t strangers that would call the cops after all; they were some of her best friends in the world.

“I…uh yeah...after I made it home from my second trip to the Pizzeria, John and I agreed that we needed to have an actual plan to confront the suit instead of flying in blind like last time. I’ve been working on it ever since but… I’ve yet to actually come up with something that works.”

The room fell silent as she finished her sentence and Charlie watched as her friends each took on differing expressions. While Carlton wore a look of surprise, Jessica’s face almost reminded her of how John had looked when he was working on the snack tray.

“Do you have any… drafts or…Whatever you call an early version of a plan?” Jessica asked. The question caused Charlie to raise her eyebrows in confusion as Jessica began trying to think of a better way to ask her questions.

“You just said that you’ve been coming up with plans, so...do you have any of them written down somewhere?”

“Oh…” Charlie looked away from Jessica and towards the kitchen table where her notebook still sat. “, yeah, why do you ask?”

“Do you mind if I look over what you’ve got? Maybe having a second opinion can help you sort out some of the problems you’ve been having,” Jessica asked bluntly. The suddenness almost caught Charlie off guard as she quickly mulled over her friend's proposition.

She already knew what the problems with her plans were and was hesitant about fully dragging her friends into this mess. But just as Charlie was about to give her a reply in the negative, the part of her mind that sounded like herself imitating her aunt Jen called out to her.

_‘They’ve already come this far, might as well bring them in all the way. You’re not kids anymore, you’re adults and if they want to help you then that’s their decision.’_

After letting the thought swirl around in her mind, Charlie found herself agreeing with it wholeheartedly and she got up from her seat to grab her notebook.

But as she was picking it up, the little voice finally reappeared when it realized what she was going to do. It wasted no time in verbally lashing out at her, ordering her not to show them the plans only for its cries to go ignored.

Its earlier unwillingness to divulge what exactly it was had weakened what little trust that Charlie had in it and made her question what its actual intentions regarding her were. Upon letting that thought pass through her head, she felt an overwhelming surge of anger flow through her mind as a response to her defiance. This time though, she was quick to snap back at it and ordered the voice to leave her alone until it was willing to be more cooperative.

For a moment, the effort seemed to have paid off. But right as Charlie handed the notebook over to Jessica, she suddenly felt a massive headache tear through her mind. A small gasp of pain passed her lips as she stumbled back over to her seat and then collapsed next to John.

She wasn't sure if the voice was doing it intentionally or if it was just a side effect of its surging anger, but at the moment she didn’t care. All that mattered was that the voice was hurting her and she wanted it to stop.

She replied to its angry bellowing with an internal scream of her own, desperately pleading for it to stop hurting her. Immediately afterward, she felt a sudden feeling of shock overtake the burning anger and then… it was all over. The searing pain subsiding almost as quickly as it had begun, leaving only a dazed Charlie in its wake.

Charlie shook her head and tried to refocus herself on the world around her as quickly as possible. Thankfully, Jessica and Carlton had been so engrossed in reading her notebook that they hadn’t noticed what happened. But judging by the look that John was giving her, he had seen everything. Right as he was about to ask her if she was okay, Charlie cut him off with a simple answer,

“I’m fine, just stood up and moved around too fast.” it wasn’t a very good lie since they both knew that a headrush would normally kick in immediately after someone stood up.

But to Charlie’s surprise, the answer seemed to satisfy John enough to drop the subject. Whether or not her lie had worked or if he’d simply decided that it wasn’t worth pressing the issue remained to be seen. However, neither of them had much time to dwell on it as Carlton let out another impressed whistle as he looked up from reading the notebook. 

“Not bad needs a few tweaks but it’s pretty solid, much better than the one that I came up with-crap!”

Everyone turned their heads towards Carlton, who now looked as though he’d just been caught with his hand wedged inside of a cookie jar. The young man tried to avert his gaze so he didn’t have to look at everyone’s now confused and critical expressions but proved to be a moot point. 

“Hold up, you had a plan? Jess said that you both came here to check on us.” John said quietly after a tense moment of silence.

“That’s what he told me,” Jessica said before she proceeded to shoot Carlton a rather nasty glare.

Carlton looked down at his feet and drummed his fingers against the back of Jessica’s chair as he came to the realization that he’d already dug himself a hole that was too deep for him to get out of. He tightly closed his eyes and let out a strained sigh through his clenched teeth before the truth came spilling out of his mouth.

"That’s only half… well… actually that’s not even half the reason why I’m here. I was planning to tell you guys after I’d already gone through with it but I guess there’s no time like the present right?” He quickly turned his head away from them and then murmured something about his “big mouth” before making his way over towards his backpack.

“So after that whole mess with my dad, Michael tried getting into contact with me again and at first, I just tried to ignore it, cause, you know, I wanted to be done with all this after nearly getting arrested by my old man, but he was kinda insistent that I hear him out.”

"The rest of the group remained silent as they watched Carlton saunter over to his backpack and then pick it up with a less than graceful motion that violently rustled whatever was inside of it. The sudden metallic clunking noises made them all jump and become even more curious as to what exactly he’d been carrying around with him during his trip.

Carlton himself seemed to be only mildly bothered by the noise as he made his way back over to the group while still continuing on with his story.

“So a little over a week ago, he decided that the best way of getting my attention was to invade my dreams in the hope that I’d finally listen to what he had to say and well, seeing one of your friends getting chased down by an ugly looking rabbit suit is a pretty effective motivator.” 

_‘Wait… does that mean that Michael's been watching us?’_

Charlie uncomfortably shifted in her seat and saw that a discomforted look has crossed John’s face out of the corner of her eye. Even though they both missed him dearly, they were unsure how to feel about the thought that Michael had been silently watching their every move.

Just like with the sounds coming from the bag, their reactions went unnoticed by Carlton, who continued talking as though he were giving a presentation in a classroom. His voice grew significantly softer as he set the bag onto the coffee table and started rifling around in its contents.

“After I woke up, I thought about what you all did when “Dave” kidnapped me and I knew that Michael was asking me to come to help you guys out of this mess. I couldn't just stand aside knowing that you were dealing with this alone, so I packed up some supplies and made my way over here as quickly as possible.”

“Wait...supplies? What kind of-” The rest of Charlie’s question died an abrupt death on her tongue as Carlton pulled out a metallic blue cylinder with a nozzle on top of it. Her mind went blank with shock as Jessica let out a gasp and John jumped out of his seat in alarm.

“What the-? Is that a blow torch!? You… actually brought a blowtorch all the way from Utah to try and take on that suit?” John incredulously down at the device now resting on the table and then back up at his friend's neutral expression.

“Yeah,” Carlton replied bluntly. “After what happened last time, I figured that I should take a different approach. One that requires a little less fire, but it will hopefully do a lot more damage.”

Before anyone could even begin trying to find their voices, Carlton pulled out yet another tool from his backpack. Immediately identifiable to everyone present as some sort of sledgehammer, though it was more on the smaller side than the ones they were used to.

“I also brought some stuff that I thought might be needed to help pick the locks but Charlie finding that Arty guy’s keyring makes that part of my plan a lot easier.” Carlton finished up by pulling a small crowbar out of the bag and then zipping it shut. He placed it onto the table next to the blowtorch and the hammer and looked back up at his friends to see their reactions.

While John and Jessica struggled to find the right words to say to their seemingly insane friend, Charlie was unable to tear her eyes away from the tools as the reality of everything going on came crashing down on her all at once.

Even though Carlton’s sudden revelation had been rather shocking to them all, a part of her felt like all of her prayers had just been answered. Carlton’s announcement and willingness to try taking on the suit all by himself had surprisingly emboldened her already strong drive to destroy it.

The added presence of her friends along with her earlier triumph over the little voice had left her whole being feeling rather empowered.

She carefully reached out to take hold of the smaller crowbar and her eyes widened as she ran her hand across the cold metal. The chill caused her to jolt as though she’d just awoken from a dream-like state.

There’d been a small part of her that was still convinced that everything going around her was a very realistic dream, but holding one of the tools in her hands brought it all into reality.  
“This is perfect…” She whispered carefully, as though the weight of her words might shatter the world around her like it was made of fragile glass. John turned around with a start and then looked down at the crowbar resting in her hands as his mind scrambled to piece together what she’d just said.

“What was that?” He asked, his question unintentionally drawing the attention of Jessica and Carlton over to Charlie as well.

Normally, having so much attention suddenly thrust back upon her would’ve made Charlie shrink back. But the combination of relief and excitement that she was currently feeling overrode all of it. For the first time since her encounter with the suit, she felt a surge of hope spread throughout her mind that drowned all of her other thoughts

“This solves everything!” Charlie shot up from her seat and started pacing back and forth. One hand still tightly wrapped around the crowbar while the other rested on her forehead. “All the problems with my plans came down to a lack of extra people but now…that you two are here we...wait...no...”

Her hopeful tone suddenly came to an abrupt stop as she realized just what she was saying to them. Despite knowing that they’d come all this way to help her, the idea of forcing them into going along with her plans was still somewhat unnerving to Charlie. But before she could begin thinking of a way to tactfully ask them about joining in on her efforts, Carlton spoke up.

“If you’re trying to think of a nice way to ask for my help then I’ll save you the trouble. I’m already here to send that suit to where it belongs so you can count me in.”

“I-i...o...okay,” Charlie said, a little surprised by the conviction in his voice. She was even more surprised when Jessica stepped over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Ordinarily, I’d try to talk you down from something like this but…” Jessica held up the notebook and then looked down at the tools before slowly casting her gaze around the room as though she wanted to address an unseen presence.

“I’m not about to argue with Michael on this sort of thing. If this is urgent enough for him to make Carlton come all the way out here then it’s got to be important.”

“Well, it’s nice to know that everyone stopped thinking that I’m crazy.” Carlton murmured, his statement going unacknowledged as Jessica pressed the notebook back into Charlie’s hands. 

“However, we need to make a few tweaks and some...minor alterations if we’re going to pull this off. If you don’t mind that is.”

“Not at all,” Charlie said breathlessly as she pulled the notebook to her chest as her heart swelled with every word that the two said. Then her eyes turned towards John, who’d been silent ever since she’d begun talking with the others, and found herself surprised by his reaction.

While his face was still contemplative, she could make out some hints of delight in his expression as if the sight of seeing Charlie full of hope again brought back some of his own joyfulness.

Although the prospect of heading back into Freddy’s made him nervous, much like Charlie, having some of their friends around boosted his confidence enough to make him push down his earlier reluctance.

When he noticed that Charlie was looking at him, the faint hints of a smile appeared on her face. After taking a deep breath, he stepped closer to her and slipped her hand into his. The simple gesture fully brought out both of their smiles as they silently re-established their agreement to always have the others back.

Once her nerves had finally settled down from everything going on around her, Charlie turned back towards Jessica and pulled open the notebook once more.

“Alright then let’s get started.”


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so...holy crap. If any of you were wondering as to why this chapter was so delayed..here's the answer. This thing is almost 10,000 words long and odds are that some of the following chapters may push beyond even that. 
> 
> But we're starting the climax now! So hopefully that'll make things move a bit faster than they have been previously. 
> 
> Special thanks to regular commenter Ben Welsh for helping me with a bit of the writing and Ro Bensi for her usual help. This wouldn't be possible without your support. Thanks!

It was almost midnight by the time the group had finished getting ready and was all set to go. Although the process of refining Charlie’s original plan had taken longer than they’d expected, it was mutually agreed that it actually had something resembling a plan instead of trying to wing it as they had back in Hurricane. But even with all of the revisions that they'd done, there was still a palpable sense of agitation that was draped over the group like a suffocating blanket. 

She'd spent the night hoping that the feeling would lighten up as they got further into planning, But the worrisome feeling had only intensified to a near boiling point as time wore on. The additional fact that the mysterious little voice was so quick to abandon her also added to her growing sense of unease.

But through it all, Charlie continually tried her best to keep her uncertainty hidden away from everyone else. Although in hindsight, it may have been a futile effort as some of the night's earlier events had shown her that everyone else was sharing similar feelings to her own. 

While Jessica had been the one who’d managed to be the most level-headed of the group, she’d only been able to keep a brave face on for so long before something minor managed to slip out from beneath her mask. Whilst going over their ideas, Charlie noticed that Jessica would tense up a little whenever she’d thought of a way that one of them could get hurt during their attempts to capture the suit. 

When this happened, her eyes would slowly move around the room and linger on each person as her mind continually conjured up all the horrific ways that she might lose her friends. After these thoughts had finished passing through her mind, she’d veto whatever the idea was and insist that they try something else. 

It was only after she’d picked up on Jessica’s attitude that Charlie began to truly take notice of the forming cracks in the others' facades. Though she’d already seen much of Jessica’s nervousness in John’s actions, though Charlie suspected that she was the only one who knew how he actually felt about all of this.  
  
He’d spent a majority of their planning time stuck by Charlie’s side, continually grasping her in much the same way that a drowning man might hold onto a life preserver. Even though his affection had been welcome after all of the time Charlie had spent keeping everyone else at a distance, the constant contact made their combined worry into an uncomfortably nervous harmony. 

The only one in the group who had been almost completely open with his feelings was Carlton. But even then he’d attempted to play off his concerns as just him attempting to lighten up the mood whenever he brought them up; it was clear all that he was just as worried as the rest of them. The energy that he’d have normally used to cover his emotions had been spent on convincing his family to let him go out to see them, leaving him open like a book that was laying in the street. 

But even with all of their fears steadily growing larger with each passing minute, their collective worry hadn’t been enough to deter them from going forward with their finalized plan. Once they’d packed everything that they needed into Carlton’s backpack, the group had quietly piled into Charlie’s blue Honda to begin what would hopefully be the last time that they’d ever have to go to a Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. 

As Charlie pulled out of the parking area and drove along the unfortunately now familiar route through the nearly abandoned streets, she began taking note of how foreboding Brookhaven had become during the night. It almost felt like they’d entered into some kind of parallel version of the city where the darkness had absolute control over the world. 

What made the experience all the more unnerving to her was the nearly unbreakable silence that had taken over the car's interior. Not a single person in their group dared to let out anything louder than the sound of their own breathing for fear that even the tiniest noise would lead to them being caught. 

Although Charlie could not be sure where exactly these feelings had come from, she suspected that it had something to do with the time. Throughout her life, the midnight hour had always felt a little off to her. The outside air was always unusually colder than the rest of the day, regardless of how warm or cold the temperature had been earlier. Whenever she’d gone out on her late-night walks, she’d done her best to always be home well before the witching hour had come about since it always felt like she’d broken some sort of unspoken rule just by being out so late at night. 

This feeling, along with her previously mentioned nervousness, made for quite the tense drive over towards the area that Freddy’s occupied. But before too long, she saw the distinct outline of the park’s gates looming tall in the night sky, its presence signifying that the tense car ride was soon to be at its end. 

Once they’d driven past the gates, Charlie slowed the Honda to a crawl and then looked around frantically for an out of the way place to park. One of the ideas that Jessica had been insistent on was that they needed to park the car away from the restaurant so as to not draw any suspicion, something that they’d all readily agreed with at first. However, Charlie was beginning to regret agreeing to the idea as the encroaching darkness made finding a parking spot almost impossible. 

When no opportunities presented themselves on the street in front of the park, Charlie decided to turn onto the road leading towards the restaurant itself and look for a spot there. But before she’d even finished completing her turn, Jessica suddenly flew out of her seat and frantically pointed at a nearby building with a bright neon sign that was advertising a small motel chain. 

“A motel! That’s the perfect place to park.” She excitedly shouted, the suddenness of her voice shattering the silence like a baseball thrown through a window. Everyone else jumped before then turning their eyes towards the now sheepish Jessica.

“Sorry, but that’s the perfect place to park since nobody would bother the car or us. If anyone did notice it, they’d just think we’re late-night guests.” 

“What if they don’t have any vacancies currently open?” Carlton queered, his eyes gazing up at the old fashioned looking sign. 

“It doesn't matter; we’re not exactly here to sample the local bed bugs anyway,” Jessica responded, her comment earning her a pair of unsettled looks from Charlie and John. “All that matters is making sure that this car blends in with its surroundings unless anyone else has a better idea. ” 

Silence once again reigned supreme in the car’s interior as Jessica waited patiently for someone else to suggest an alternative. After half a minute of silence, she triumphantly pointed towards the direction of the motel parking lot. 

With an acknowledging nod, Charlie slowly turned her car into the lot and parked it as close to the driveway entrance as possible. Hopeful that this would allow them to make a quick escape if one was required. 

After taking the extra time to position the car so it was facing the road, Charlie slowly turned off the engine and subsequently plunged the car’s interior into darkness as everyone began moving. But the sounds of unbuckling seat belts and shuffling fabric momentarily paused when John nervously cleared his throat. 

"Just to be sure before he heads out, we didn’t leave anything behind right?" he asked carefully, his attempts to keep out the faint hints of unease in his voice failing in spite of his best efforts. 

The question made Carlton pause his efforts to climb out of the back seat and quickly unzip the backpack to do a final check. A tense feeling swept over the group as he leaned forward to closely peer into his bag, his eyes straining to see in the almost total darkness while his friends nervously watched on. 

But the worrisome moment came to a sudden end when Carlton looked up and gave everyone a triumphant thumbs-up. 

"Don’t worry John, everything’s all right here...though I still don’t know why I have to carry the flashlights too but whatever.” He said before quickly re-sealing his backpack. "The only thing that isn’t here l are those keys that Charlie picked up from that creepy guy.” 

As if she’d been waiting for just such a cue, Charlie reached into her coat pocket to pull out the keys but was stopped when Jessica took hold of her arm. She turned back and arched a confused eyebrow at her friend who was now looking nervously at the floor. 

“This is going to sound a little paranoid but, I think you should just leave them in your pocket for now. I don’t think risking them being dropped somewhere is something we really want to risk.” She said, her voice barely rising above a hushed plea. 

For a moment, Charlie considered countering Jessica’s argument but the pleading look in her friend's eyes made her decide that it’d be better for all of them if she just left the keys alone for now. She carefully pushed them back down into her pockets and then pulled out her now empty hand to show Jess that the keys were still safe. 

With a grateful nod, Jessica pulled away from Charlie and went back to getting out of the car as quietly as possible. It was becoming all too clear that the masks they’d been putting over their collective nervousness were starting to crumble away from the closer that they got to their goal. Her friends escaping nervousness seemed to infect the very air around them, making it feel heavier than a blanket that had been soaked through with water. 

Charlie wished that there was a way that she could calm everyone down, but she was having a hard enough time maintaining control over her own nerves as it was. But she couldn't just stand by and watch as her friends' worries consumed them from the inside out. If they couldn't keep themselves calm while just walking to the building then what chance would they have when it came to actually fight Dave’s suit? 

She hurriedly racked her brain for ideas as she walked around the car, hoping that something would come to mind that might allow her to soothe all their fears. But in the end, the only thing that she could think of was to try and lead by example. Perhaps if she showed the others that she wasn’t afraid then they might become emboldened as well. It was a very desperate and not the best plan by any stretch of the word, but it was all she could think of on such short notice. 

As Charlie made her way around the car, she found John leaning up against the passenger door with a wary look on his face while one of his hands firmly clenched his stomach. But when he saw Charlie drawing near, he attempted to make himself look more confident than he actually was. 

At first it was unclear if his change of expression was an attempt to assuage her worries or if he’d been trying to chase off his own fears, but one look into his troubled eyes made the whole facade immediately all apart. The truth was as plain as day even if none of them could muster up the bravado to pretend they were alright and Charlie didn't even know where she'd begin to even convince herself of that. 

She drew closer to him and held her hands behind her back in nervous anticipation of what he might say. Hopeful that the air between them might clear up enough to finally have an actual conversation, however small it may be. But instead, the tension between only seemed to increase the longer that they waited. 

Not that this wasn’t expected, In the last few weeks all the painful thoughts and horrible memories that had dulled with time's grace had risen back to the surface until they were spilling out like an overfilled cup. The number of times that she’d just wanted to put down her pen and shut out the voice was almost incalculable. 

Even now Charlie was wishing that she’d never accepted Rick’s offer to see the new Pizzeria and just ignored its existence. It would have been all too easy to just feign ignorance about the restaurant and pretend to be someone other than Henry Baker’s daughter. But she’d made her choice and now she was facing the full consequences of her actions with no way to back out of it. All that she could do now was move forward and do her best to reclaim the life that Dave was trying to steal from her yet again. 

She was about to say something to John when she spotted Carlton and Jessica making their way over to where they were standing out of the corner of her eye. They’d originally been hanging back to allowCharlie and John time to talk, but ended up deciding to stop after said conversation never materialized.

Not a word was said between them once they’d all gotten back together, as though they were expecting someone else to speak up first and take charge. The tense air that had sprung up between them was almost unbearable now. Each breath they took was slow and deliberate, almost like they were all being suffocated by an unseen force. 

“Is everyone ready to head over?” Charlie finally asked, unable to take much more of their silent suffering. Her words dispelled a bit of the suffocating feeling, but she could still feel a part of it clinging to her soul. 

“Not really, though considering that this is my second time doing something like this in less than three months and I’m not fighting my way through a windstorm … I’m about as ready as I’ll ever be,” Carlton commented. “At least I’ll have someone else to talk to besides Michael this time.”

“I think it’d be better if we keep the chatter to a minimum while we’re walking there,” Jessica said in a stern tone. “Unless we want someone calling the cops on us for a noise complaint. We probably look suspicious enough as it is without someone overhearing our plans. ” 

“She’s got a point….” John murmured, his head swiveling around to check over the area.

“Actually, it might be better to split up a little. Everyone walking together in a group will probably raise a few questions regardless of how quiet we are.” 

Charlie turned her head back towards John with a look of surprise that slowly faded away as she let his idea sink into her brain. While she wasn’t too keen on separating from their friends so soon, it was probably for the best in case a policeman did come by despite her reservations. 

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Jessica said, almost stealing the words from Charlie’s mouth while Carlton just gave them all a meek shrug

“I’m down with it as long as we don’t manage to get ourselves lost on the way there.” 

“It's not too far away from here actually.” Charlie turned and pointed her arm up the street. “All you need to really do is go straight and then take a left turn at the intersection.” 

“Well then, if it’s only that short of a walk then we should be fine on our own.” Carlton turned towards the road and grabbed hold of Jessica’s arm to pull her along with him. “Let’s give the two sweethearts a few more moments alone before we head into the gauntlet.”  
Carlton punctuated his statement with a not so subtle wink and in the now flustered couple’s direction as he and Jessica faded into the darkness before vanishing altogether. The only indication that they were still in the same world as their friends being the sound of their footsteps and Jessica’s light chastising of Carlton’s actions. 

Charlie briefly considered calling out to Carlton and joining Jessica in telling off their friend but decided against it in case her voice managed to draw any unwanted attention from the surrounding buildings. Instead, she just lightly shook her head and turned back towards John with a nervous smile.

At first, it seemed as though he was going to return it, but his attempt quickly faltered and his face resumed its nervous expression as he turned his head towards the road. 

“We should probably get moving too, if they get there first then they’ll be stuck out in the open without the keys...” He said. Although they both wanted to hang back and talk amongst themselves, it appeared that neither of them was sure what they actually wanted to say. 

Charlie looked back in the direction that their friends had gone off in. Jessica’s voice was no longer audible, meaning that they’d either moved out of hearing range or that she’d fallen silent. 

“That’s probably our best option...we can Uhm...” Charlie whispered before trailing off into a murmur.  
“Let’s worry about...us...after this is all wrapped up.” John carefully replied. His words were slow and deliberate, as though saying the wrong thing might cause his whole world to implode. 

“Agreed… Charlie sighed before she suddenly slipped her arm around John’s elbow to take his hand in a tender embrace. He squeezed back, and then pulled her closer to him as they started walking down the street. 

In spite of the tense feelings that still lingered between them, Charlie f wasn't ready to let go of the happiness that she had found with him. But that life seemed to just keep getting harder to hold onto with each passing day. 

She could only imagine he was thinking the same as her, the endless patience and gentle optimism John seemed to have had been drained by the events that had been transpiring throughout the past few months. But despite all of their disagreements and rising tensions, neither of them wanted to let the other go of the other. 

Even though they’d begun moving down the sidewalk, it almost seemed like the world around them had bled away and left them as the only survivors. Both clutching each other firmly as if afraid that unless they maintained contact that one of them would disappear. At this moment it was only John and Charlie, a moment that they wished would last forever. 

John had no idea how much Charlie wished that they could just turn around and spend the rest of the night like this. Huddled together and trying to keep the other warm as they fell asleep with their hearts completely intertwined. But they had a job to do before they could finally relax.

Their unpleasant memories of Freddy's existence had forcibly reinserted itself in a life the two of them had worked so hard to make their own. It had left them feeling like they were standing at the edge of a rocky cliff and If they didn’t move carefully, then everything that they’d worked towards would fall and shatter to pieces on the rocks below. 

Although she didn’t know if destroying the awful suit would actually fix everything that had been going wrong in their lives, it would hopefully be a step in the right direction. At the very least, it might finally lift the burden that both of them have been carrying for over a year now. Once that burden was off their shoulders, they could focus on fixing their strained relationship.

 _‘Strained… not broken.’_ Charlie hopefully thought to herself. It was a comforting thought that she kept replaying until their walk came to an end once they’d spotted the silhouette of the new Freddy’s looming in the darkness. 

Even with all of the lights off, the giant cartoon bear’s outline was hard to miss. It’s outstretched hand rising into the night sky like an unlit beacon. Just waiting for someone to give it a spark of life so it could continue to guide people to the restaurant. But even unlit, it served as an effective marker to distinguish Freddy’s from the other buildings around it. 

Charlie clenched her teeth and took in another sharp breath. Her grip on John tightening as they glanced around the empty parking lot. There weren’t any other signs of life around aside from themselves, which made them momentarily worried that their friends might have gotten lost or become waylaid on their way to the restaurant

But those fears were quickly dashed when Jessica and Carlton came rushing over from behind one of the nearby buildings with their faces bearing a mixture of relief and anxiousness. 

“Are you guys okay?” John asked once they were close enough to hear his whisper. 

“Now that we know that the cop car out front wasn’t rushing off to arrest you two, then yeah I’d say we're’ doing okay,” Carlton said between pants. The dash sudden dash across the parking lot having taken more out of him than expected. 

“W-what cop car?” Charlie asked, her eyes turning towards the slightly less worn out Jessica. The taller girl pointed over towards the sidewalk, not far from where they currently stood. 

“There was a police car sitting over there when Carlton and I got here. We almost didn’t see it until it turned on its lights and started driving towards us. It’s why we were hiding by that other building.” Jessica took a sharp breath and gave the pair a relieved smile. “We originally thought that they might have spotted us, but I guess we were wrong since they just drove off.” 

Despite her own relief, Jessica’s explanation caused a chill to race down Charlie’s spine. She’d suspected that Rick might have the police watching the building, but having it confirmed caused her heart to free fall into her stomach. Especially since they’d all come so close to being caught by them and it was only through sheer luck that they’d been left alone.” 

“Do you know why they left so suddenly?” She asked already knowing the answer. Unless they’d been inside the car with the policemen, there was no way for them to know exactly what had caused them to leave. 

“Cops get called for lots of things; we’d be here till morning if I tried to list them all. Since they didn’t turn their sirens on, it must not have been anything all that big.” Carlton said while resituating his backpack. “At least they’re not hanging around here anymore.”  
  
Although Carlton had meant for the statement to provide some reassurance to his frightened friends, it only caused Charlie to feel more concerned than she already was. If the cops had been called away for something relatively small as Carlton said, then it wouldn't be all that long before they came back to continue their interrupted vigil. 

An even worse possibility was that another one might be coming along to replace them. Whichever way the case, the group needed to take advantage of their absence and make for the main doors while they still had a chance. 

“If it really was a minor call then they’ll probably be back soon.” Charlie carefully spoke her thoughts aloud, as her body and mind were unexpectedly seized by a sense of frantic urgency. 

“So unless we want to make this harder on ourselves, then we need to get moving” Without even giving anyone a chance to respond before she let go of John’s arm and took off on a brisk jog across the parking lot, leaving her friends staring after her in stunned silence. 

While she couldn't explain where her sudden shift in attitude had come from, she wasn’t about to risk being caught. Not when they were so close to their goal. 

Before long, she could hear the sound of her friend's footsteps echoing behind her as they all raced after their unexpectedly wayward friend. Other than their collective footfalls, the only other sound that came from the group was the jingling of the keys in Charlie's jacket pocket. 

Because of how dark it was, the sprint across the parking lot seemed to take longer than it actually was. But soon, Charlie found herself significantly slowed her pace to make it easier to dig the keys out of her jacket.

Even though the night around her seemed to be blacker than the deepest abyss, she’d spent enough time studying the keys to figure out which was the correct one to use on the front doors. This was especially useful since they’d all agreed to forgo using flashlights until they were in the building proper, allowing her to waste no time in getting them out. 

Without missing a beat, she hopped onto the sidewalk and shoved the master keys into the front door. The satisfying _‘click’_ that the lock made as she turned the key only serving to charge her already heightened sense of urgency. 

Just as the others were getting to the sidewalk, Charlie pulled back the door with a great heave and motioned for them to hurry inside before anyone took notice of their actions. Jessica was the first one through the door, followed by Carlton, and then John, who placed a hand on the door to keep it open long enough for Charlie to slip in as it slammed shut with a thunderous rattle. 

As the echo from the door started to dissipate around the restaurant, Charlie spun back around and locked the doors using the same key as before. The resounding ‘ _clunk’_ catching everyone that wasn’t her off guard. They were all locked inside of Freddy’s now, with the only way out being the keys that Charlie was now shoving back into her coat pocket. 

“Is… that really necessary?” Jessica whispered. 

“If the police do come back and decide to actually do something besides sit in their car then yes,” Charlie said as she shoved the keys back into her pocket. “If they find the doors unlocked then they’ll know someone’s in here.” 

“And trust me; getting taken down by a cop is not a pleasant experience.” Carlton quipped. “Especially if they’re armed with anything heavier than a flashlight.” 

_`What the hell did your dad do to you?’_ Charlie pushed that thought back down into the depths of her mind as she turned to face the darkened pizzeria that lay just beyond the almost invisible front desks. That question was the kind that should be saved for when they’d managed to get back to the apartment and were celebrating the final destruction of the monster that had stolen her childhoods. 

“Those… were not here during the opening night.” John said, his voice carrying through the empty restaurant as he tentatively walked over and lightly shook turn turnstiles next to the desks.  
“They’re part of Rick’s safety measures that he put in place to avoid… what happened at the old place,” Charlie said as she stepped up next to him. “He also makes everyone that comes in wear these plastic bracelets that the employees scan at every entrance and exit to keep kids from leaving with the wrong people. Until the bracelets are scanned, the turnstiles don’t move. 

“Smart, though it doesn't really help all that much. Although I can already think of several ways that someone could bypass it if they really wanted to.” Jessica added, barely giving the turnstiles a second glance before she then stepped over them with the grace of a ballet dancer as a way to highlight her point. 

“I think sure the idea is just to make it so it’ll at least slow down someone trying to run off with a kid,” Charlie replied as she began to make her own way around the checkpoint. “Or at least provide the illusion that there are some kind safety measures in place.” 

Since she wasn’t nearly as nimble or tall as Jessica, she’d opted to slide herself underneath the turnstiles almost as if she were playing an impromptu game of limbo. While it was a bit of a tighter squeeze than she’d anticipated, Charlie managed to get underneath them and out the other side without much problem. 

John came next, deciding to follow in Jessica’s footsteps and just hop over them. Though without nearly as much grace as their friend had previously displayed. His landing was a little rougher than he would have liked, his knees rattling as he came down in a crouching position but it got the job done. 

Before John had the chance to get stabilized though, he heard Carlton whistle for his attention. He turned around in time to catch Carlton’s backpack as it was thrust into his arms while its owner followed his example in hopping over the blockade. A boyish grin that seemed almost out of place in their current surroundings etched into his features as he jumped off and landed close to where the girls now stood with a small, yet haughty laugh. 

“Ah, hopping over stuff like that never gets old no matter how many times you do it,” he said wistfully. “Though it’s a little less fun when there’s nobody around to chase you afterward.”

“Right…” Charlie said, her voice trailing off as she decided to abandon the remark that she’d been planning to make. Instead, her attention was drawn back over to the windows that faced the now occupied parking lot as she noticed a set of headlights pulling in from the road. 

While they’d all been making their way over the turnstile barrier, a police car had pulled up to the pizzeria and slotted it into what she assumed to be the same parking spot as the car that had come before it. But once only Jessica and Carlton were the only ones that had seen the car that had been parked there previously, Charlie had no idea if it was the same one or just another car that was taking over from them. 

Once the others noticed that Charlie had gone quiet once again, they all turned back towards the window and froze when they saw the police car that was parked out front. Charlie could hear someone gasp, though she wasn’t sure exactly who. Not that it mattered all that much anyway since they wouldn’t be seeing the car for very much longer. 

Without turning around, she started moving backward to try and shepherd her friends towards the main hallway. Even though they were now behind both a locked door and the security checkpoints, everything that they’d done would be for nothing if they were spotted. 

As they drew closer towards the hallway, Charlie heard Carlton start unzipping his backpack to retrieve their flashlights. Although it seemed like a good idea at first, Charlie began thinking about what would happen if the policemen happened to look over and see their flashlights shining in the darkness.  
  
Even if they outran them into the pizzeria itself, they had nowhere else to go. Eventually, they’d be found and dragged out in handcuffs, with nothing to show for their efforts save for some hefty criminal charges. 

Right as Carlton was pulling out one of the heavy-duty flashlights that they’d brought, Charlie grabbed hold of his wrist. The suddenness of her action caused him to drop the flashlight back into his bag as he looked up at her in shock. 

“Charlie, what-” 

“We can’t use them right now, if the police see them then they’ll know that someone’s in here.” Was all she said before her gaze turned back towards the parking lot to make sure that the police car was still in the same place. As though she’d expected their chattering might have been heard through the walls and carried out to the parking lot. Everyone else in the group froze and stared at Charlie before their gazes all turned towards the darkened hallway. 

“Okay then, but if we can’t use the flashlights then how are we going to make our way around this place?” Jessica whispered, her words echoing everyone else’s thoughts. 

“The farther that you get in, the fewer windows there are,” Charlie whispered back. “The hallway leading to the showroom is just a line, so if we just keep our hands on the walls then we shouldn’t have any problems.” 

As the hallway drew nearer, the whole group remained on the right side of the hall so that they wouldn’t lose track of each other in the dark. Once they’d gathered behind her, Charlie took a final look towards the parking lot before then motioning for her friends to follow her. 

There was a brief moment of hesitation before Jessica started moving forward, doing her best to keep up with Charlie while John and Carlton followed close behind her. It was slow going and before too long it became almost impossible to see anything except for what was directly in front of them. The only indicator where the others in the group were standing was the sound of their footsteps and the muffled jingling of the keys in Charlie’s pocket. 

Not a word was said between them as they focused on making their way down the darkened corridor. Although they were all certain that they'd moved in far enough to be out of sight from the cop car, none of them dared to turn around and check. Mostly out of fear that they’d either lose track of those in front of them or that they’d accidentally cause the person behind them to smack against their back. 

But eventually, Carlton had had enough of creeping around in the darkness and made his thoughts known by grabbing hold of John’s shoulder and calling out- 

“Okay, I think we’re good to use the flashlights now.” His voice boomed through the hallway startled all of his friends so badly that they nearly collided with each other. 

Jessica and John attempted to shoot him a pair of harsh glares but gave up when they realized that they couldn't see him. That was until Carlton reached into his bag and flicked on one of the flashlights. The beam seemed to light up the room like a lighthouse shining on a stormy sea as he pointed down at the floor so as not to blind his companions. 

Charlie turned back and was almost ready to tell him off when she saw that the parking lot had indeed faded from their view. With a sigh of relief, she walked over to Carlton and retrieved the flashlight that her aunt had given her along with the car from the backpack. The sight of it caused Jessica to raise her eyebrows in surprise. 

“I thought that you lost that back in the old Freddy’s.” She asked as her voice took on a contemplative tone. Unsure if she was just misremembering the events wrong, or if they’d just been blocked out. 

“Carlton’s dad found it while they were recovering Dunn’s body and gave it back to me after I’d finished my police statement.” Charlie slightly tossed the flashlight between her psalm as she watched the others pull out their own flashlights and use them to look at their surroundings. 

“Wow… without the drawings, this place looks… I don’t know….” Jessica trailed off as she tried to think of the right word to say, before finally settling on, “Artificial.” 

Charlie squinted as she joined Jessica in looking over the pizzeria walls. She hadn’t paid all that much attention to them before and found that her friend's assessment was accurate. The drawings that children had put up along the walls of the older Freddy’s had given a bit of life to the restaurant as a silent display of the love that those who visited held for the place. But without any of that, the walls of this new Freddy’s almost seemed to give off a cold feeling. 

Without any of the blinding lights and energetic music, the building almost felt like a person in a vegetative state. It was usually kept alive by the constant influx of children and their parents, but without them, it became clear just how truly dead the building was…if it had even been alive to begin with. 

Perhaps with time, this new pizzeria might gain some of the life that the original had, but that didn’t matter to Charlie. For even if this pizzeria did gain a spark of life, it would never have the same energy her father’s creativity had brought to the original. 

After taking a moment to acclimate their eyes to the now lessened darkness, the group soon resumed heading down the corridor with a quickened pace as their flashlights chased away some of the suffocating atmospheres. Though it didn’t stop the feeling of trepidation from lingered on within their hearts. 

But the momentary reprieve came to an abrupt end when they found themselves entering the main showroom. Carlton and Jessica’s eyes widened as they moved past Charlie and John to get a good look at everything around them. Charlie stopped by the entrance and watched her friends' expressions to observe how they’d react to everything that Rick had done. 

“Man,” Carlton gasped. “John wasn’t kidding when he said that this place was like the original on steroids.” 

“I never said that,” John corrected, though he only said it loud enough for Charlie to hear as he came up alongside her. Their eyes briefly meeting before their attention shifted back over towards Jessica as she looked back at them. 

“You guys definitely understated how much money was sunk into this place. It’s no wonder why that Taylor guy is so dedicated about keeping it afloat if he put in all this effort.” Jessica crossed her arms and let her eyes wander around the room as her initially amazed expression began to falter into a disgusted frown. 

“Not that it makes it any less disrespectful though.” She finished ruefully as she remembered the bloodied history that lay hidden beneath the new restaurant’s elaborate decor.

Although Jessica knew that Charlie wouldn't hold it against her, she still felt ashamed for having let herself be taken in by the restaurant's splendor. As she turned her head away from them and looked towards the back of the room, her gaze briefly settled onto the large life stage that was set into the back wall. It’s curtains pulled open as though it were waiting for a performer that had yet to arrive. 

Jessica’s eyes scanned quickly across the stage, but then stopped suddenly when something in the shadows caught her attention. She couldn't tell exactly what it was at first, but after straining her eyes to their limits she was able to make out what appeared to be an almost human-looking silhouette standing in the shadows, still and stalwart like one of the roman sentry’s of old. 

Jessica let out a gasp and staggered back towards the hallway, her hand slamming against and her chest as if she was trying to keep her heart from jumping out of her body. 

“Guys...Guys!” Everyone turned towards their now panicked looking friend as she tried to control her erratic breathing. 

“Jess?” Charlie called softly before cautiously walking over to place a steadying hand on Jessica’s shoulder to keep her from falling backward. “Jess, what’s wrong?” 

“There's… there’s someone… someone’s over there,” Jessica whispered before she pointed a shaky finger towards the stage. Charlie looked over in the direction that her friend was pointing in to try and squinted hard in an attempt to figure out just what her friend had seen. 

Upon first glance, Charlie nearly became as equally panicked as Jessica when she also saw the very same silhouette standing in the shadows. But when she looked in closer and noticed what looked to be an undersized top hot jutting out of the forehead of the shadow, she felt her panic quickly ebb away into nothing. 

Charlie let out a relieved sigh and then moved her flashlight upward so it would illuminate the darkened stage. But when she saw what Charlie was doing, Jessica reached and grabbed hold of Charlie’s wrist to keep her from altering the person that she’d just seen. 

She was about to start reprimanding Charlie for almost blowing their cover when a surprised yelp from Carlton caused her to look back over and saw what she’d actually been seeing this whole time. 

The beam from Charlie's flashlight made it appear as though the new Freddy Fazbear had the shine of a polished jewel while his purple vest seemed to glisten like an old disco ball. The brown bear's gaze was turned in their direction with its jaw hung open in what could only be described as a look of surprise. One that was matched by both Jessica as her feelings of dread slipped away and was replaced instead by embarrassment. 

“I can safely say that I was not expecting the new Freddy to look like that.” Carlton leaned forward and critically scanned the new Freddy with his eyes. “Does he look more like a chipmunk than a bear to anyone else or is that just me?” 

“No, I thought the same thing when I first saw it.” Charlie giggled at her friend's comment, happy to know that she wasn’t the only one who’d thought that. She gestured for them all to follow her before slowly leading them all closer to the stage while moving her flashlight around to give them a better view of the other two animatronics. 

But when Jessica saw the new version of Bonnie, she found herself struggling to not recoil in shock. The bright blue creature that stood on stage looked nothing like the Bonnie she’d known as a child. While it had all the hallmarks of the bunny that she’d used as a confidant all those years ago, everything about it just looked… off to her.

“They look so different.” She unhappily murmured to herself. “Are you guys sure that kids actually like these...things? Maybe it’s just me but I cannot get over how creepy they are.” 

“Whenever I’ve been here, the kids were always very enthusiastic to see the show so I _guess_ there’s some sort of charm that we just don’t see.” Charlie shrugged. 

“You should see what they did to Chica,” John replied playfully, his comment causing Charlie to scrunch up her face in distaste as she moved to shine her flashlight onto the newest iteration of Chica.  
But right as the beam began to move away from the creature that bore Bonnie’s name, Jessica thought she saw the blue animatronics’ eyes slowly shift in their direction just as the darkness fell over it once again hid the creature from sight once more. She momentarily considered alerting the others to what she’d seen but stopped herself at the very last second. 

_‘It’s just a reflection or something like that.’_ Jessica told herself, though she still took a few deep breaths to calm her already fraying nerves. _‘Get a hold of yourself, not even fifteen minutes in and you’re ready to jump at every shadow in the building. There’s no way that these things are alive...they’re nothing like the old ones and that hopefully includes the possession part too.’ ’_

She tried to pull herself back out of her mind and back to the situation at hand. After her mix-up with the new Freddy, she didn’t want to freak out the others more than she already had. Having everyone in a panicked state wasn’t really something that they needed. Yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very wrong with these machines, though she suspected that it may have been brought on by just how creepy they all looked. 

Just as she was about to re-engage with the conversation, a dull _‘clunk’_ suddenly echoed out from where the new Bonnie stood. All of their hearts collectively skipped a beat as they looked about the room, the earlier sense of anxiousness quickly getting replaced with growing fear. 

Charlie whirled around to shine the flashlight in the direction that they’d heard the noise. The light passed back over the new Freddy before then settling onto Bonnie once again, only for them to discover that its head was now pointed in their direction with the rabbit's jaw hanging open in a manner that made it look like it had frozen in the middle of a yell. 

Jessica took a step back and almost collided with the currently frozen in place John. His gaze affixed on the blue bunny before he turned his head to the right as another _‘clunk’_ came out of the darkness. The sound almost caused Charlie to drop her flashlight in surprise as the room was suddenly filled with the sound of three sets of lights snapping on in unison. 

Right before their eyes, the three animatronics’ eyes lit up like spotlights and then turned to shine on them. Freddy and Chica’s mouths were now hanging open like Bonnie’s as they focused on the four teenagers that had dared to intrude in their domain. 

Charlie felt her body lock up in fear as she took in the sight before her. Her mind overflowing with thousands of intermingling thoughts as she tried to process what was happening. She wanted to scream out for them to all run, but her mind was so disorganized that nothing coherent was able to get through. 

Carlton stood rooted in place, his hand now over his heart as he stared up at the stage in abject horror as the new animatronics dropped their instruments to the floor with a thunderous clatter that made them all nearly jump out of their skins.

The sudden jolt snapped Charlie out of her trance and she began looking around for a hopefully safe place that they could run too. But her thoughts were violently interrupted by a sharp whirring sound that arose from deep within the animatronics bodies as each of their systems slowly came online. Due to the vastness of the room around them, the whirring sound almost deafened everyone in the group and soon their cries of pain were being added into the already dreadful cacophony. 

Charlie wasn’t too sure if the cries of pain that came from all around were her own screams or those of her friends as she tried to plug her ears to tune out the dreadful noise. But try as she might, she was unable to adequately dampen the sound no matter how hard she pressed hands against her ears. 

But soon a new problem stole her concern away from the angry ringing in her ears as all three of the animatronics took an unrestrained step forward in perfect unison. Charlie felt her heart leap into her throat and tightly lodge itself in her neck as the animatronics continued moving forward, their footsteps shaking the stage as they marched towards the edge in a uniform fashion. 

It was then that Carlton managed to find his voice, though all that he was able to say was a loud string of obscenities that were almost drowned by the amplified grinding of the animatronics gears. The four of them slowly moved towards each other until they were pressed up together like sardines in a tin that was being stared down by a hungry animal. 

As the three animatronics moved up to the edge of the stage, their collective pace began to slow to a crawl until they’d stopped moving altogether; as though they weren’t sure how to progress any further. 

The two groups stood motionless as they stared each other down with nary a sound between them aside from the animatronics still racing internal systems. After half a minute of near silence, John finally managed to find his voice again and turned to address his girlfriend. 

“How are these...I thought that…did they…? ” He paused and tried to get his thoughts in order. But despite his nearly incoherent murmuring, Charlie seemed to have at least understood enough of his questions to give a rather basic answer. 

“I don’t know…” She gasped, her body shivering in fear as she stared up at the larger than life beings before her. 

Every single bad memory and nightmare that had resulted from the old Freddy’s struck her like a truck as panic overtook her entire body. Her fingers dug into her cheeks as she tried in vain to figure out how this was happening. 

_‘They can’t be haunted can they? Has Dave....did he kill more people aside from Arty? If he did then how many? Who were they and why haven’t we heard anything about this if that's the case!? There’s no way that Rick would be able to cover up that many deaths, especially if they were children...I...’_

Charlie felt her knees press together and lock uptight as her breathing became more shallow. Each breath becoming more labored than the last as her whole body was thrown into internal chaos. 

Jessica and Carlton looked over at their friend with concerned looks overtaking the worry currently etched into their faces. But when Carlton reached out a hand to grab hold of Charlie’s shoulder, John suddenly motioned for him to stop and gently pushed his hand away from her. 

The young man gave John a confused glare but said nothing and just watched him carefully move in front of Charlie and then lower himself to meet her eye level. Even though John was as terrified as the rest of them, calming Charlie down enough to give her somewhat of a clear head took priority over his own sense of terror. 

Thankfully, the sight of him seemed to do the trick, as he heard Charlie’s labored breathing began to slow down. Her unfocused eyes settled onto his features as she balled her hands into fists that were tightly pressed against her cheeks. 

But as John began to reach up to gently place his hands over Charlie's, another horrible sound drew their attention back over towards the stage. To their shock, they saw that the new Bonnie was moving again. 

One of its feet was lifted over the edge of the stage like it was trying to descend an invisible staircase. Had they not been so terrified by the sight before them, might have looked comical. Then the animatronic then appeared to pitch forward, its left leg angling down at an inhuman angle while its right leg pushed it off the stage like it was trying to jump into some sort of pit. 

The blue rabbits fall from the stage seemed to last a lifetime to the confused group, but soon a muffled _‘clang’_ reached their ears as the left foot harshly landed on the floor. Several pistons and gears loudly moved inside the animatronics leg as it began aligning its body to fully stabilize the rough landing before lowering its other leg. 

Once its right foot had touched down on the solid ground, the bright blue rabbit began to slowly rise back up to its full height. Although it wasn’t nearly as tall as the original Bonnie, it was still a rather imposing sight to behold. 

The realization that one of the animatronics was now standing only a couple of yards away from them was enough to begin bringing all of Charlie’s scattered thoughts into perfect alignment. Once it was all organized, her mind sent out a single command through her entire body.

_‘RUN.’_

Charlie threw her arms out to the side and grabbed hold of John and Jessica’s jackets before the thought had even finished clearing out of her mind. Her two friends nearly screamed from shock as she began to drag them off towards the left side hallway that led to the play area. 

“Carlton, move!” Charlie barked over her shoulder, finally drawing the young man’s attention away from the animatronics and over towards the quickly retreating forms of his friends.

Just as Bonnie began taking its first steps, Carlton bolted away from it and down the same corridor that he’d just seen his friends run down. It was a feat that was easier said than done due to the overstuffed backpack he was carrying on his shoulders. But he mentally reminded himself that didn’t need to be as fast as Charlie; he just needed to be faster than the animatronic that was chasing after him. 

Though he soon found that thought being challenged as he heard the sound of Freddy and Chica stepping off the stage in much the same way that Bonnie had barely a scant moment ago. The sounds of their feet slamming into the floor echoed all around the nearly empty building and caused the tables around them to rattle violently from the vibrations. 

The realization that all three of the animatronics were now on the floor served as the push that Carlton needed to begin closing the gap between himself and his friends. Despite their nearly overwhelming fear, none of them dared to look back at their pursuers. it was already enough of a struggle just keeping up with the adrenaline-fueled Charlie without worrying about exactly which animatronic was chasing after them. 

soon exited the hallway and found themselves rushing towards the indoor play area. Even in the dark, one could clearly make out the towering structure in the center of the room along with all of the other various bits of playground equipment scattered all around its base. If they weren't being hunted down by a group of mysteriously alive animatronics, the sight of the play area would have given John, Jessica, and Carlton pause as they took in what would have been a dream come true for their younger selves. But right now their minds were only focused on getting away from their pursers, though Carlton seemed more preoccupied with something in the left corner of the room that on;y he'd taken notice of. 

As they approached the small wall that surrounded the play area, Charlie suddenly sprinted well ahead of them all and vaulted herself over the wall with an unexpected amount of nimbleness that surprised even herself. But the action quickly proved to be to her detriment as she misjudged how fast she'd been moving and thus made a rather ungrateful landing on the other side of the wall. Charlie yelped as she overshot her original target and came down near one of the smaller playground areas. A sudden, searing pain shot through Charlie’s leg as she landed hard on her knee while her shoulder unexpectedly slammed against a plastic cut-out of the new Freddy that was attached to a nearby slide. 

It took Charlie almost everything in her to keep herself from letting out a cry of pain as she reeled back from the slide. She could hear her friends startled and frantic voices calling out her name as she fell to her hands and knees. She shakily attempted to get back on her feet, but the pain in her knee ended up forcing her back into a kneeling position. Although she'd at first been worried that the fall had broken one of her bones, it wasn't long before the worst of the pain began to ebb away and dull into little more than just an uncounterable pang. 

She was just about to try standing up again when Jessica leaped over the plastic wall in an almost mirror image of her earlier leap over the turnstiles. Her feet had barely touched the floor before she began racing over towards her injured friend. Charlie quietly exhaled and then tried standing on her own before so she wouldn't have to trouble her friends. But even though the pain had lessened, she was still rather sore. 

Jessica slowed her pace to a light job as she came up beside Charlie and then gently grabbed hold of her left arm. Her fingers wrapped tight around it as though she planned on never letting go. Charlie winced from the sudden pressure on her arm but didn't fight back as Jessica started pulling her back onto her feet.

The movement caused pain that was still lingering within her body to throb with almost every movement, but Charlie did her best to keep a straight face as she tried to keep herself standing in an upright position. She glanced up just in time to watch John throw himself over the wall and dash over towards them. 

“Charlie! Oh my gosh, a-are you okay?” John asked between hurried breaths as he softly placed his hands on Charlie's cheeks. Jessica awkwardly stepped aside as John hurriedly examined his girlfriend. "You didn't hit your head did you-? 

“No...I'm fine. I just managed to bang up my shoulder and knee pretty badly but it's alright." Charlie tried to give John a reassuring smile, but the stressed look on face refused to diminish in intensity. He looked as though his worst nightmares had started to come true, which did make sense given the situation they were currently in.

Charle softly pressed her forehead up against his chin and winced. While her shoulder and leg were already starting to feel a little less sore, she could feel a large amount of tingling at the points of impact. She knew that the next time she looked into a mirror that she'd find pair of nasty bruises. But that was something that could be worried about another day. Right now, the only thing that she was focused on was getting all of them to safety. 

Those thoughts were interrupted by the realization that was Carlton had yet to join their group. She was just about to ask where he'd gotten too when Carlton ran around from a different area and then threw himself over the wall. Much like Charlie before, the landing was a rather rough one for him. He came down hard on his legs and he shook violently before he then stumbled over to them with a morbid look on his face that he tried to hide with his usual brand of humor.

“Don't worry guys I'm still here...I’m….whew...Ha! Wow, that’s the hardest I’ve run since the time Dad had me try out for track and field back in middle school.” Carlton tiredly wheezed through haggard breaths. His friends all gave him confused looks as they looked away from him and towards the area that he'd come from. 

"Weren't you right behind us only a minute ago?" Jessica asked quietly, her voice radiating with a healthy mixture of concerned confusion. Carlton didn't give her much of a reply, opting instead to slowly point towards the right side of the room. Everyone looked in the direction he'd specified and saw the faint glow of an exit sign shining out of the darkness. Jessica's face lit up at the sight while Charlie's faltered. 

"Why were you looking for an exit?" She asked slowly.

"I figured that if we're unable to get away from those things, then we should at least have an escape route planned so we can plot our next move without having to worry about those things trying to rip our faces off," Carlton explained as his breathing finally began to even out.

"Taking it now would probably be a wiser course of action." Jessica mused, her words cutting deep into Charlie's heart as she looked back towards her friend. Although she completely understood why Jessica and Carlton would want to opt-out of helping them any further, the idea that they'd come this far just to bail at the first sign of trouble hurt more than she was willing to admit. 

Jessica glanced over towards Charlie and noticed the upset expression on her face. The taller girl bit her lip and then looked down at the floor as she began trying to come up with something that might at least placate Charlie for a little while. Even though still wanted to help Charlie with destroying Dave's suit once in for all, these new animatronics being alive just like the old ones had effectively thrown all of their plans out the window. At the very least, they needed time to come up with a way to get around them. But before she was able to make her thoughts known, Carlton said that something that chilled everyone to their very cores. 

"Unfortunately, we can't even go out that way if we wanted to. When I got there, I found out that someone put a padlock around the crash bar." His statement brought all further conversation to a halt as everyone stared at Carlton in shock. None of them wanted to believe that Rick Taylor would actually do something like that, especially since he'd previously been so keen on keeping the children who entered the restaurant as safe as could be. 

Although she hadn't wanted to leave before they'd found Dave's and destroyed Dave's suit, the idea of being trapped began to push her already rising anxiety past its breaking point. Everything had gone wrong in such a short span of time that it felt like she didn't have any sort of control over her life anymore. She quickly forced herself into a breathing exercise as John continued talking with Carlton. 

"Okay...that had better be a joke because that's not only extremely illegal, it's dangerous as hell!" John stammered out, his jaw nearly smacking against his chest. 

"Wish that I could tell you that it is, but I can't." Carlton sighed as he reached into his pocket and fished out a folded up sheet of paper. "I found this note taped onto the chain but I didn't want to take the time to try reading in case you all decided not to wait and just bail on me." 

"Carlton you know we'd never do that to you," Charlie replied she shined her flashlight towards John as he took the note from Carlton's hands and began trying to hurriedly unfold it. Carlton responded to Charlie's statement with a roll of his shoulders as John quickly read over the contents of the note. His face quickly turned pale before becoming a deep, crimson red. 

"John, what's wrong?" Jessica asked, unsure if she should step closer towards him or back away. 

Charlie was about to ask the same question when John titled the note in her direction so that way she could read it over herself, but right as she started to read the handwritten letters the whole group was suddenly blinded by a pair of lights shining from the hallway. The others all moved to shield their eyes and let out equally mixed cries of confusion and pain as they tried to adjust their eyes to the blinding lights. But Charlie was in a panic, felt her blood run cold as everything else except a sick feeling of dread slip out of her mind. 

At first, she'd thought that the cops had somehow either heard or spotted them and had subsequently come to arrest them all for trespassing. But she quickly realized her error when she managed to partially uncover her eyes try and saw the silhouettes of the new Bonnie and Chica standing just outside of the main doorway with their jaws now clamped shut. Charlie took a step back began to mentally curse herself out for causing her friends to stop their flight with her fall. If she hadn't landed improperly then they wouldn't be sitting ducks right now.

The harsh gazes of the two animatronics seemed to pierce through Charlie's very soul as they eyed them up in almost the same way that one would expect a lion to look like while staring down its prey. Both of them were still as statues, unmoving like a lighthouse in a stormy sea. As the other's eyes began to fully adjust, they took looked up and froze in place upon seeing the two animatronics watching them from afar. as though they'd just walked in on something that they weren't meant to see. 

Before anyone was able to collect their thoughts, the sounds of the animatronics internals being pushed to their limits began to fill the room. This time, none of the group could muster up the energy to bring their hands to their ears. Their bodies had effectively shut down and left them stranded as their minds frantically tried to think of a way out of this mess. But the animatronics "minds" were also "racing," as their systems began readying for a currently unknown task that required a lot of effort. 

Charlie frantically looked about the room in an attempt to find some way to escape the infernal machines. But she soon realized that their only option was to head deeper onto the play area. While hiding among the play equipment might give them a temporary stay of execution, all that would only result in them becoming divided as they scrambled for a place to hide. Meaning that it would be much harder for them to regroup and escape once the danger had cleared. Not to mention, a lot of the play area was designed for children in mind. Even if they did hideaway within the plastic jungle, it wouldn't do all that much to conceal them. 

Right as it seemed like the sound of their motors couldn't get any louder, both the rabbit and chicken took a uniform step towards the teens. The suddenness of it jolting Charlie's body back into action as she jumped back as the sound of their combined footsteps began thundering throughout the room. Her heart leaped into her throat as she stared straight at the oncoming danger like a deer that was caught in a semi truck's headlights. Her mind shifting into frenzied panic as it tried to figure out a way to avoid the now seemingly inevitable fate that lay before them. 

But it quickly proved to be a rather futile effort as the animatronics movements suddenly picked up speed. Their slow and deliberate pace increasing with every step they took and turning into something that was more akin to a frenzied jog. While they didn't appear to be moving as fast as the older Foxy had been back when he'd been chasing her in the original pizzeria, it was still quicker than any of them had expected. The combination of the bright lights, the shaking, and the increasingly loud sound of their advance quickly overwhelmed Charlie's already strained mind.

All that she could think to do was grab John's hand and squeeze it as tight as she could while also closing her eyes as she began to feel tears forming within them. Her heart became heavy in her chest as she realized that her actions had led some of the most important people in her life into a proverbial slaughter. She didn't want to watch as her loved ones were torn apart by the approaching machines that had been cast in the image of her fathers' creations. 

There was nothing more that she could do now besides wait for the end to come and hope that it was at least a and relatively painless demise for her friends. They didn't deserve to suffer because of recently poor life choices. But now, there was no way out for any of them, all because of her desire to put an end to Dave's suit. 

Time seemed to slow down as the bone-rattling sounds of the animatronics footfalls drew nearer and Charlie found herself thinking back to her earlier desire to just going home and enjoy each other's company as they caught up on things unrelated to the pizzeria.

She quickly crafted a mental scene in her mind that featured herself and John huddled up beneath a shared blanket as Jessica recounted a funny story from her own time in college, which prompted Carlton to make a remark that sent them all into a fit of shared laughter. She could almost see it in her mind as though it were an actual memory and not just a happy daydream that was meant to comfort her in the last moments of her life. 

But right as she was fully ready to embrace the end, the room suddenly fell silent. She could still feel the intense light from the animatronics eyes focused on her body, but everything else relating to their charge had ceased. Charlie briefly wondered if she'd gone deaf from all the noise, but then she heard Jessica speaking up. Although her words came out rather shaky sounding, they rang out like a shot in the dark as she said something that brought about a mixed sense of both relief and confusion. 

"T-they've stopped..." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Fanatic! You can't just end this chapter on such an abrupt cliffhanger!" 
> 
> I can and I did. Hopefully, you all enjoyed it and let me know with either a comment or Kudos. I'd love to hear what you guys think of this story! Till next time everyone, stay safe out there!


End file.
